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Insomnia Details

2002

60
from 20,665 members

Starring	Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan
Director	Christopher Nolan
Genres	Drama

Insomnia

In a remote Alaskan town called Nightmute, the murder of a teenage girl has shocked the tight-knit community. The Los Angeles Police Department sends two of its cops--both under investigation by Internal Affairs--to try to solve the crime in Christopher Nolan's film based on Erik Skjoldbjaerg's 1997 Norwegian version starring Stellan Skarsgard. The experienced, weathered Will Dormer (Al Pacino) has nothing in life except for the police force; his younger partner Hap (Martin Donovan) has a family to support and is willing to turn state's evidence to protect them. Local cop Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) is excited to work with her hero Dormer--until she starts uncovering some questionable situations. It isn't long before Dormer finds the murderer--reclusive writer Walter Finch, played with subtle nuance by Robin Williams--but Finch knows a secret that could bring Dormer down. Director Nolan, who stunned audiences with 2001's inventive MEMENTO, here crafts an atmospheric psychological thriller bathed in whites and grays. The acting is uniformly excellent, especially Pacino's performance as a cop on the edge and Williams' soft-spoken, low-rent crime novelist. Because it never gets dark in Alaska at this time of year, Dormer (a play off the Spanish word "dormir," which means "to sleep") is unable to fall asleep, light always streaming into his hotel room--watching him slowly unravel is one of the film's many treats.

Starring	Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan, Maura Tierney, Nicky Katt, Paul Dooley
Director	Christopher Nolan
Studio	TOUCHSTONE HOME VIDEO
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 58 mins
Certificate
Genres	Drama
Language	DVD: English
Hearing-impaired	English
Subtitles	DVD: Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Released	Production year: 2002 To Rent: DVD: 03 Mar 2003

Critic's review of Insomnia
View all (1)
- Effective remake of a Norwegian thriller; despite its added star power, it is no improvement on the original.
- 32161
- - Halliwell's Film Guide
  - 02 Mar 2006 at 15:42
Most helpful member's review of Insomnia
View all members' reviews (165)
- - 44
  - 16
  Cerebral and Absorbing
  
  Christopher Nolan's Memento was one of the standout treasures of 2000 and I went into this knowing it would be a cerebral and absorbing effort. I was not ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 301100
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Alfod
  - 115 reviews
  - Walsall
  - 11 Mar 2004 at 13:13
Most recent members' reviews of Insomnia
View all members' reviews (165)
- - 0
  - 0
  only eskimos and yeti go out in midnight sun
  
  Murder attracts flawed cops to Alaska where clock is the only indicator of what time of day or night it might be. Suitably the sleeper cannot sleep and ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1069565
- - juradino
  - 623 reviews
  - London
  - 02 Dec 2011 at 17:32
- - 0
  - 1
  Not a patch on the original.
  
  Normally I avoid remakes like the plague, but I was told that this was better than average, so I tried it. It was a total waste of talent. What a shame.
  
  Report this review
- 1064498
- - tnathan
  - 15 reviews
  - Epsom
  - 19 Nov 2011 at 11:44
- - 0
  - 0
  Insomnia, it's action and suspence all the way
  
  I must admit this film was a good surprise particlarly robin williams's character in all film i seen him in eg Jamanji, night at the museum he is playing a ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1039567
- - a customer
  - 11 Sep 2011 at 20:45
View all members' reviews (165)
News and features
View all
Return of the nanny
- 19 Nov 2004
Robin Williams is said to be in talks to make a sequel to Mrs Doubtfire. In the 1993 comedy hit, Williams plays a father who goes to desperate lengths - dressing up as an old woman - to see his children. His disguise is so convincing that his estranged wife employs him as her nanny. Williams is expected to star and produce the new Mrs Doubtfire film. Recently the actor turned to more serious roles, playing a creepy loner in One Hour Photo and a vicious killer opposite Al Pacino in Insomnia. The Read more
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Rating breakdown

20,665 Member ratings

100	930
90	1,416
80	3,750
70	4,378
60	4,863
50	2,448
40	1,466
30	814
20	396
10	204

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by: sam103329 from Wakefield

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- Insomnia
  
  In a remote Alaskan town called Nightmute, the murder of a teenage girl has shocked the tight-knit community. The Los Angeles Police Department sends two of its cops--both under investigation by Internal Affairs--to try to solve the crime in Christopher Nolan's film based on Erik Skjoldbjaerg's ...