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Insomnia

Name: Insomnia
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: May 24, 2002
Duration: 118 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Robin Williams

2002

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 483 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	Your Score
8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 483 Ratings

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Insomnia Scene: Foot Chase Through The Logjam

Movie Details & Credits

Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: May 24, 2002 | R

Starring: Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Robin Williams

Summary: 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.)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 118 min

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Awards & Rankings

40	#40 Best Movie of 2002
21	#21 Most Discussed Movie of 2002
65	#65 Most Shared Movie of 2002

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

100

Lou Lumenick

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

100

Shawn Levy

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

Todd McCarthy

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

David Edelstein

Sensationally made and in patches pretty nerve-jangling. Read full review

Jami Bernard

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

Mick LaSalle

Haunting psychological drama. Read full review

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." Read full review

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User Reviews

A.Stevens

Jul 22, 2006

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.

1 of 2 users found this helpful

SEROJ

Apr 23, 2015

Brilliant acting, super interesting story, drama, mystery and action... what more could you wish for? Al Pacino and Christopher Nolan deliver one of the best criminal movies i've ever seen!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

amheretojudge

Aug 25, 2019

I'd lean towards the supporting characters that aren't just filling in for the leads, they have got some gunpowder in their pocket.

Insomnia Nolan tases you with a sassy outlook on a crime thriller that flips the priorities and expectations of the viewers. But hold onto your hats, forI'd lean towards the supporting characters that aren't just filling in for the leads, they have got some gunpowder in their pocket.

Insomnia

Nolan tases you with a sassy outlook on a crime thriller that flips the priorities and expectations of the viewers. But hold onto your hats, for unlike the textbook Nolan phenomenon, we are in awe with the journey rather than the big reveal of the film. In the sense that it is more fascinating to see who is what then who-dun-it case. And on that note the plot takes a major turn on making the detective a criminal. And it is not until in later stage you find that road taken by him, when you see Will Dormer played by Al Pacino panting and worried sick about getting caught from the police of his very own department. Will, a hardcore successful detective, finds himself on a new case that haunts him back to his own self.

The only feature, as of now, to mark in Nolan's filmography where he contributes only as a director and not a writer. Although it is said that he did write a rough draft of the screenplay. And I was really excited to see him pull off someone else's material and quite early in the film I was assured that this heavy yet sensitive responsibility couldn't have gotten a better caretaker. And it is that fog crime scene in its first act that shows you, how precise Nolan is on projecting himself exquisitely to what is told in the paper.

You cannot not mention the interrogation scene between Robin Williams and Al Pacino when talking about this film. And yes, I get that it has much more juicy whistleblowing information revealed where the entire film hinges upon. But it is also a testament on how to "look" in an act. How to gaze at each other, Pacino, and not gaze at each other, Williams, and play cards with higher stakes. P.S. it is a joy to watch Pacino evolve into a person suffering from Insomnia step by step, frame by frame, just with the way he handles his eyes and how they hung low with his brow as the film ages on screen.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

AlvaradoKTA

Mar 28, 2013

Directed by Nolan and starring Al Pacino, Insomnia is nothing short of a thrilling masterpiece. This is a great film for lovers of psychological thrillers.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MovieManiac83

Apr 23, 2015

A gimmick is only a gimmick if it's in service of nothing but its own gimmickry. The big twist in Christopher Nolan's astonishing Memento–a thriller that unfolds in reverse chronological order–is that the gimmick suddenly melts away, revealing a deeply considered and profound statement aboutA gimmick is only a gimmick if it's in service of nothing but its own gimmickry. The big twist in Christopher Nolan's astonishing Memento–a thriller that unfolds in reverse chronological order–is that the gimmick suddenly melts away, revealing a deeply considered and profound statement about the slippery nature of memory and the human capacity for self-deception. So it only follows that Nolan's next project, a compelling big-budget remake of the superb Norwegian "sunlit noir" Insomnia, would segue smoothly (and in reverse anatomical order, no less) from memory to perception, relishing the sometimes fuzzy connection between the eyes and the mind. Those who aren't familiar with Erik Skjoldbjærg's original will likely be immune to the remake's biggest flaw, which is the disappointing suspicion that Nolan, for all his talent and craft, never came up with a reason for the remake, other than to translate a great film into English and introduce it to a wider audience. But while his additions and subtractions are negligible, the premise still carries an ingenious metaphorical hook, centering on a man whose guilty conscience can never escape the light of day. In a role originally played by the much younger Stellan Skarsgård, Al Pacino looks haggard; his world-weary demeanor speaks volumes about his character, a veteran L.A. detective assigned to investigate the murder of a high-school student in small-town Alaska. As an internal-affairs unit prepares to mount a corruption case against him back home, Pacino and partner Martin Donovan track a methodical killer during summer in the Arctic Circle, under perpetual sunlight. A ruse to snare the suspect pays off, but a shootout on a foggy beach ends with Pacino accidentally shooting Donovan and then hastily covering it up, worried that his partner's cooperation in the internal-affairs case will make him the obvious culprit. While a local officer (Hilary Swank) collects evidence for a report on the incident, the sole witness (Robin Williams, in his best performance in about 18 years) blackmails Pacino to save his own hide. As Pacino endures day after day without a wink of sleep, Insomnia skillfully turns the screws, delving further into his troubled mind as it's haunted by past and present sins, as well as deceptive visions that seem to bleed out of his conscience. Nolan's solid, workmanlike direction doesn't strike any memorable grace notes, but he draws out the key ambiguities in the story with great precision, to the point where even Pacino himself isn't certain whether the shooting was an accident. Long on atmospherics and short on plot, the original Insomnia drifts so far away from the initial murder investigation that it nearly becomes incidental to the real story, about a crooked man deprived of the darkness he needs to conceal his secrets. 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LivingTribunal

Apr 24, 2018

It didn't match with the poster or the trailer. When I first saw this film on the screen, I was very confused. Now, I love this film. It's true that it's the film that we can not see Christopher Nolan's talent in the film. However, I guarantee that this film will make you actually feel thatIt didn't match with the poster or the trailer. When I first saw this film on the screen, I was very confused. Now, I love this film. It's true that it's the film that we can not see Christopher Nolan's talent in the film. However, I guarantee that this film will make you actually feel that you have insomnia. I loved the acting in all ways. I loved characters in every ways.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MaraD.

Jul 29, 2007

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.

2 of 5 users found this helpful

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