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Insomnia
Warner Bros.


6.6

based on 36 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 49 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for language, some violence and brief nudity

Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt, Paul Dooley, and Jonathan Jackson

From acclaimed director Christopher Nolan ("Memento") comes the story of Will Dormer (Pacino), a veteran LAPD detective who travels to a small Alaskan town with his partner Hap (Donovan) to investigate the disturbing murder of a seventeen year-old girl. (Warner Bros.)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Hillary Seitz Nikolaj Frobenius (1997 screenplay) Erik Skjoldbjærg (1997 screenplay)
DIRECTED BY:	Christopher Nolan
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 15, 2002 Video: October 15, 2002 Theatrical: May 24, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	116 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

This is the English-language remake of the 1997 Norwegian film, "Insomnia," starring Stellan Skarsgard.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

USA Today Mike Clark

A perfect fit between filmmaker (Memento's Christopher Nolan) and material (Norway's same-name psycho-chiller from 1997), this remake gets all there is to get out of a peculiar premise with promise.

100

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A rare case of an American remake that actually improves on a European movie.

100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's taut, tense and terrific.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Something to treasure: a thriller whose style, structure and rhythms are so integrated with the story, you cannot separate them.

100

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

About as good a movie as you could have hoped for. Really good. Hole-in-one good.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Superb psychological thriller.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The anomalous proliferation of scenic beauty gives Mr. Nolan irony to play with, and he uses it spectacularly. The director and his gifted cinematographer, Wally Pfister, are clearly turned on by all this wasted beauty.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Insomnia shows an equally welcome ability: a gift of creating intelligent, engrossing popular entertainment.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Gripping, highly dramatic thriller that more than confirms the distinctive talent of young Brit helmer Christopher Nolan.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Unlike most remakes, the Nolan "Insomnia" is not a pale retread, but a re-examination of the material, like a new production of a good play.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Less gloriously showy than "Memento," but it proves you can still craft fine art under the auspices of a big studio.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Despite the cat-and-mouse games between cop and criminal, this is less a battle of wills than one man's battle for his own soul. Nolan bravely treads where few American films dare to delve -- into the world of ambivalence and ambiguity -- and emerges with a compelling portrait.

Slate David Edelstein

Sensationally made and in patches pretty nerve-jangling.

LA Weekly John Powers

Nolan gets his two larger-than-life leads playing off each other in the same frame (which is something Michael Mann couldn't pull off in "Heat's" pairing of Pacino and De Niro) and coaxes a melancholy turn from Pacino, an icon of angst whose real strength has always been his capacity for eloquent silence.

Newsweek David Ansen

It might, however, have been a greater film if its villain were as compelling as its flawed hero. Williams is effectively creepy, but next to Pacino’s rich, multileveled portrait he seems one-note, and one we’ve seen before.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Nolan reverses the emphasis -- no surprise from the director of a plot-driven film like "Memento" -- but achieves the same end, bringing Hollywood noir under the harsh glare of permanent daylight.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Nolan, withholding master of disorientation in his previous non-linear films, allows far too easy access into the psychic tumult of Al Pacino's cop and Robin Williams's prime suspect.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Like the best thrillers it dives below the ordered surface of the genre into the coldest waters of the individual soul, where Hitchcock and David Lynch and Dostoyevsky have ventured. Does Christopher Nolan belong in that company? Not quite yet, but he's on the way.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

What Nolan does accomplish here that we haven't seen from him before is staging a few horrifyingly effective suspense set pieces -- one of which, in particular, is likely to stay with you for a long time.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Nolan creates an effective thriller, although he keeps his stylistic pyrotechnics to a minimum.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

In the ongoing case of the fan versus the movies, the evidence suggests that a good policier is damn hard to find. So when you come across one that can boast a decent script, taut direction and a single superb performance, there's no need for prolonged deliberation.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Under the relentless glare of the Midnight Sun, the only darkness is in the hearts and actions of the characters.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Pacino is masterful as the sharp-witted, seen-it-all detective.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Has to be appreciated simply for doing its job, for being the only thriller I've seen recently that made me wonder how my knuckles ended up in my mouth.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

With Insomnia, his third feature, Nolan, 32, has proven himself a precocious master of the thriller, unsettling the audience with a brief image of blood seeping through fabric.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

So thoroughly absorbing while it's unfolding that later, when you play the movie back in your head, it's surprising to realize how ordinary it is. That's a testament to Nolan's talent: He's able to make even the hoariest clichés feel fresh.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Haunting psychological drama.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Smart and well-crafted, and it boasts complex characters, effective star turns and evocative photography of a small Alaskan town in summertime, when the sun never sets. It's a solid Hollywood thriller.

Film Threat David Grove

A good movie, atmospheric and sometimes creepy. It grabs us with the premise and holds our attention and doesn’t let go, right up to the explosive climax.

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

The best thing about Insomnia is that despite director Christopher Nolan's soft spot for moody-blues obfuscation, he has the good sense to keep his star in practically every shot.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

This one is nowhere near as original -- it's a flawed remake of a fine first feature from Norway -- but "Insomnia" still stands on its own as a thriller with brains and scenic beauty.

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

Pacino is typically excitable but also strangely sad, as if the case could take all he's got; Williams, on the other hand, tries playing against type but still goes over the top.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Nolan's intention was clearly to cast the material in a more conventional Hollywood mold without turning it into namby-pamby nonsense, and he succeeds admirably.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

In Insomnia, the crunch comes as the hero and his opposite number hook up on a ferry, to discuss what each of them knows about the other. This should be Nolan's big moment, his answer to that quiet, magnificent interlude in Michael Mann's "Heat," when Pacino met De Niro in a coffee shop. -- But Williams and Pacino just don't mesh. [27 May 2002, p.124]

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

In this film, Nolan seems overwhelmed by the budget, the egos of the stars, the thinness of the script, and he doesn't impose much personality on the picture. It's all Pacino.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Nolan pushes the twilight-zone atmosphere so hard that it loses its capacity for mystery. When it's not assaulting us with jolting audiovisual expressions of fatigue, this movie plays like a pedestrian response to David Lynch's effortlessly eerie "Twin Peaks."

The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 49 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mara D. gave it a3:
Despite the expected great acting from the main cast, the film seemed eternal and I found myself waiting for it to end. It is ironically the cure for it's own title.

A. Stevens gave it a10:
An excellent director combined with amazing actors(williams and pacino in particular) and a compelling script combine to make a highly successful and thrilling film.

gregor s. gave it a9:
A very well made movie: the progression of the plot, the rythm, the images, the music. A super note to Al Pacino's high acting. With Donnie Brasco and the Heat 'face_à_face' scene with De Niro, it's, imo, of his reallly best work here. Full of nuances, small things in the way he reacts to some lines, his intonation, ....Very impressive artist. Robin Williams offers a very convincing 'counterpart', and the dialogues between Pacino & him work totally. David Julyan's score is of great quality, following the tone of Memento. Insomnia and Memento have many links, besides (flashes, camera moves, music, the ambiguity of the 'hero', etc...) A real good work, anyway; Thank you Christopher Nolan.

marshall m. gave it a6:
It was ok, not as good as his other movies tho.

Joshua G. gave it a3:
Just too dull to give a better rating.

Ray H. gave it an 8:
Director Nolan, using a different style than his prior two gems, shows us the impressive range of his talents. He takes past oscar winners Pacino and Williams and draws from them very fine performances in his first studio film. An engaging story, which is slow in spots, is driven by yet another memorable "flawed hero " performance by Pacino. Williams is more than game and Hilary Swank isn't really needed but is pleasant eye candy with skills. Breathtaking cinematography completes another stellar film by Nolan.

Pat C. gave it a 6:
It's contrived but totally immersing. Insomnia now joins jet-lag as the 2 most believable devices for dumbing down characters.

Insomnia Warner Bros.

Insomnia
Warner Bros.