Hey folks, Harry here... Seems that Christopher Nolan's remake of the fantastic INSOMNIA played up in Mountain View, CA at the Century 16 Theaters. I first had a clue about this screening when I got a Cel phone call from Sir Etch-A-Sketch, who was apparently visiting family or friends or an internet floozie. He called from his Southwest Flight on Thursday as the plane was taxiing for take-off. He told me that Chris Nolan was on the plane with post-production folks named Curt, Dody, Aaron and Brad. They were all bound for San Jose, CA. So I knew something was up. Haven't heard from Sir Etch-A-Sketch since, so I don't know whether or not he saw the film... But he sure as heck was in the neighborhood! The reviews seem to be quite positive, but none of the reviewers have seen the original... GET THE CRITERION DVD NOW PEOPLE!!!!!! So without further ado, here ya go....
Insomnia
by Christopher Nolan
Hello, I am a frequent reader of the site and I thought I would send in a review of the movie I saw tonight. It was a test screening of the new Christopher Nolan film Insomnia. I am a huge fan of Memento so when the offer to see the screening presented itself, I could not pass it up. The movie stars Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, and we were told that it wasn't complete - some technical work remained and the music was temporary. There was a glitch here and there but they didn't take away from this excellent movie!
It's like a cat and mouse thriller that has layers and layers of unexpected story elements added. Pacino plays a decorated LA homicide detective who is sent to Alaska from with his partner to investigate a murder. Hilary Swank is a local detective who has admired the career of Pacino's character and is excited to work with him. Within the first 15-20 minutes the film detours away from the conventional cop-chase-killer film in to something more interesting and much more compelling. The film is about choices, the right ones and the wrong ones, and how they haunt us.
I won't give away plot details, but I want to say that Pacino is excellent. Alaska is experiencing their "white nights" where it doesn't get dark for months on end. Because of this Pacino can't sleep, and for the rest of the film (spans about 6 days) he is unable to sleep. He gets slow, groggy, and unfocused. The white nights also sets up some great scenes that have Pacino walking abandoned streets in the middle of the "night". The town looks like a ghost town and adds to the heavy atmosphere of the plot.
Finally, I wanted to say that all of the actors hit just the right notes with their role. Pacino is very compelling as an aged hero haunted by his choices. Hilary Swank is excellent as the sharp eyed intelligent rookie. And Robin Williams...he is equally good in his role, and he reminded me of his part as Garp, except gone all wrong. The scenes between him and Pacino are very sharp.
The print we saw had 2 problems -
1) being a choppy edited climatic scene (that can be cleaned up for clarity).
2) fog that drops out of nowhere in an early scene (which I imagine will be fixed with cgi.
Anyway, I loved the movie and highly recommend in to anyone who likes crime noir, thrillers and films with strong character studies.
-Hawkfu
Now here's Dormer
Hey, Harry. First time writer to you here, but my sleepy (pun intended) town of Mountain View, CA doesn't usually get much play up here so what's to write about? That is until last night when Chris Nolan (director of Memento) brought his latest film Insomniato town to see what we all thought of it. Interested?
Some background first... I'm a big fan of Memento -- best film of the year for me. Saw it five times in the theater, bought the DVD, got pissed when there was no Nolan play by play, which, by the way, is aan ugly trend that the grubbers in Hollywood need to end. We know there's gonna be a special edition with all the extra goodies in a few months, they know we film chumps are gonna buy it (even though we already own the first one) -- they gotta stop with the double-dipping on new releases. I already have friends who refuse to buy bare-bone new discs 'cos they know there's a juicier one around the corner. One day I'm gonna do the same. As soon as I get stronger. Honest. Anyway, my warning to the studio brass -- don't do it anymore. You're boning us, we know it, and one day we will revolt in mass and bitch slap you back into submission.
Back to Insomnia. The folks at the Century 16 started filing us in around 6:30P or so and I saw Chris Nolan (young, tall, blonde, well-dressed and pale from the darkness of the editing room) standing out by the entrance to the theater. I gave him a head nod , but he was busy talking to some folks and didn't see me -- no harm no foul (he didn't know how many times I've seen Memento).
Anyway, the film started rolling a little bit after 7:00PM and despite some early focus problems (thanks to our friendly neighborhood Century 16 projectionist -- I probably went to high school with him), my girlfriend and I sat glued to our seats for the next two hours. HOLY CRAP!! This film is amazing. Anyone doubting the skills of this director, anyone questioning whether or not Memento was gonna be his lone great film doubt and question no more. Midway through the film my girlfriend turned to me and said she had to go to the bathroom and I scooted, but she never moved to leave. She sat there for the next hour and continued to watch as the Diet Coke beat her up something awful. This is a girl who watches When Harry Met Sally every month with her girlfriends. This is a girl who forces me to watch It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve before we go to bed. This is a girl who refused to see Don'tSay A Word because the "I'll never tell" chick "freaked" her out. My girlfriend sat and squirmed until the end of a movie that she normally wouldn't see because it was that freakin' good and that freakin' intense.
Insomnia is a remake of the 1997 (thanks IMDB) Norwegian film by the same name that starred the awesome Stellan Skarsgard as a detective who is called up north to the land of the midnight sun to help solve a murder with his partner. In this version, Al Pacino plays the part of the sleepless detective and Martin Donovan plays his partner. Nightmute, Alaska -- the Halibut Capital of the World -- takes on the role of land of the midnight sun.
The deal is this: Detective Will Dormer (Pacino) and his partner Hap (Donovan) are two LAPD detectives who are being investigated by IA for some sort of badness. Their boss is sending them up to Alaska to help out the local Police Chief (played by Paul Dooley) who needs some help solving the recent murder of a pretty teenaged girl. The reason? They're friends with the chief and the heat on them in LA is reaching a point where they might be better off out of the city for a bit. They arrive and Dormer immediately takes over the case (much to the chagrin of a local detective played by a solid Nicky Katt -- his pissed off looks are hysterical). Hilary Swank plays a rookie detective by the name of Ellie who is thrilled that Dormer is up there helping them. She actually did her thesis at the academy on a Dormer case and knows everything there is to know about him -- including where he got that scar on his neck. The student/mentor type relationship these two have is a beauty to watch. She is the young cop -- good, wholesome, bright-eyed, ready to take on the world. He is the veteran -- disappointed in the system, tired, seen it all and done it all and not too happy about it. Ellie is hope and everytime she's on the screen it shines out. Hilary Swank, looking very much like the pretty young thang she is, is amazing.
Back to the story... So Pacino's Dormer takes over and when the murdered girl's backpack is found decides to put it back where it was found and annouce to the public that they are searching for it. See, the killer was very meticulous in hiding his tracks. Dormer feels if he hears that the police are searching for it, he'll go back and recover it and they can trap him. Problem is, Donovan's Hap told Dormer the night before that he was about to talk with the IA. He's tired of them hounding him and has a family to look out for. Dormer is pissed because he knows that means they'll come after him next and he's not crystal clear clean. So now, Dormer questions whether or not the backpack idea is such a good thing. If IA sniffs around him and he gets busted, all his cases will be thrown out -- all his hard work and the trash he's put behind bars will go out the window. "Don't let IA cut your balls off," the Nightmute Chief tells him. "You're a cop." So they move forward with the backpack plan and stake out this cabin (the original murder scene) as the fog moves in.
If you've seen the original, I'm not telling you that much new. And if you want to know more, keep reading but BEWARE.... SPOILERS AHEAD:
HIGHLIGHT TO READ!!!
Suffice to say, the plan backfires, Will Dormer "accidentally" (????) shoots and kills Hap with his back up weapon (then blames it on the killer of the girl), the girl's killer (Walter Finch, a local mystery writer played by Robin Williams) watches Will kill Hap and calls him up and tells him that he saw what he did. In Finch's mind, he and Will are now on the same team. They both "accidentally" killed people they cared about and now they have to rely on each other to get out of the mess. What they need is a wildcard and someone to pin the murders on. Meanwhile, Swank's eager Ellie Burr has been assigned Hap's murder investigation and starts digging around -- could Will have killed his partner and then covered it up? Dormer in the meantime can't sleep. The guilt and incessant sunlight keep him awake and as the days pile up he begins to hallucinate more and more (Nolan really puts you in this guy's head). Ellie, noticing his haggard, tired face, comments, "You once said that a good cop can't sleep 'cos a piece of the puzzle is missing and a bad cop can't sleep 'cos his conscience won't let him." Dormer looks at her as if knowing what's she's hinting at and replies, "Sounds like something I'd say."
And.... we're back:
This film is morality play that doesn't spoon feed anything to the audience. The characters are real, not movie cut outs. Shades of gray exist (just like they do in the real world).
Harry, this film rocks. I didn't even discuss three of my favorite scenes (Pacino going postal on Robin in the interrogation room, Pacino confessing to Maura Tierny, the hotel manager, his own crime as well as his late night chat with her about his brother). I don't know how you do what you do, but call up Warner Brothers now and demand to see this film. Visit Chris Nolan. Have drinks with Pacino. Call up Soderbergh and Clooney (the Exec Producers) and insist that they show this picture to you ASAP. My girlfriend almost peed herself over this flick -- literally!
The acting across the board is phenomenal -- this movie has THREE OSCAR WINNERS acting together for the very first time directed by the hottest/most promising young director to come around since (dare I say) Soderbergh -- what more can you possibly want? Any naysayers on Robin Williams as a bad guy will say nay no more -- he's completely convincing as a serial killer who is just starting his "career". Now that he's crossed the line, he's not coming back. Pacino's collapse into the hallucinating, exhausted, guilt-wracked wreck of a human being is unbelievable (I guess it's naive of me to scream out, "OSCAR!" so early, but I can live with that -- "OSCAR!!!"). Hilary Swank's portrayal of the bright shining light of hope that is Ellie Burr proves that her recognition for Boy's Don't Cry was no fluke and this time we actually get to see how hot she is (Is she really naked in Affair of the Necklace? Count me in. Damn.).
I've never seen Chris Nolan's The Following, but Insomnia proves to me that he's definitely the man to watch. This film kicks ass and when they introduced it they said it was a "rough cut" -- it's still a freakin' work in progress! Maura Tierny (from ER), Nickt Katt (from Boston Public and Boiler Room) and Jonathan Jackson (as the punk kid who gets framed for the murder) are all terrific in the supporting roles. Wally Pfister, the guy who shot Memento, did the same on this one and it looks great (wait 'til you see some of the Alaskan mountain and glacier scenery). And the script is amazing. First timer Hilary Seitz has written some unforgettable characters and given them dialogue that people were actually quoting as they left the theater ("I love gum -- it keeps me awake." and "You're about as mysetrious to me as a blocked toilet is to a plumber."). HOLY CRAP!
Harry, you gotta see this one. I'm not sure when it's coming out, but I think maybe next summer (??). It's smart, cool, hip, intense and has the same subdued, but sharp wit that Memento has. This is definitely a film that people should lose sleep over as they wait for it to come out.
I just hope Warner Brothers doesn't try to screw us with the DVD (are you guys listening??).
Anyway, that's it for now from the sleepy town of Mountain View, California (that's close to San Jose by the way) -- please keep me anonymous in case these folks return (they're looking for your peeps out there).
Just call me DORMER.
Now here's Nazgul_Kidney
Hey Harry. I was treated to a test screening of Insomnia last night. A few quick thoughts before I get started. This is my first review and my first test screening. I am not a big fan of thrillers nor have I ever been interested in the roles Al Pacino takes.
Insomnia was directed by Chris Nolan (Memento) and stars Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hillary Swank. The film is set in the Alaskan town "Nightmute", this name is important as the town experiences white nights. "White Nights" is the term for continuous days and nights of daylight experienced in the extreme north, for all you non Gregory Hines fans. A girl has been murdered with all evidence removed from the body. Local authorities call in L.A. dectectives Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) for help on the case.
Let me start off by commenting on the visuals of this film. Many of the locations and shots are simply stunning. The film opens with an almost microscopic close up of blood soaking through the weave of white cloth. This is cut with scenes of an ice field Dormer and Eckhart are flying over. This gave me the impression that the murder was bleeding out and engulfing the town itself. Very nice work there. There are also some quick flashes of the murder, which grow more frequent as the film progresses. This first annoyed me, I got the impression that Nolan was using another story trick to tell a simple crime drama. Thankfully no. They were added to represent detective Dormers' growing exhaustion from lack of sleep. They are a nice artsy flare and don't alter the story, again good work.
The acting was good to great, if not a huge stretch for some. Pacino really impressed me, maybe I will take a look at a few of his films. He does a great job playing the dual nature of his character. He is The Man when it comes to all things copish, but is being utterly defeated by the environment. This was a point I was hoping for, that Dormer would be suffering from the environment. Pacino just doesn't strike me as an outdoorsman. Robin Williams does a good job as well, though his part doesn't seem a stretch until the end. For the majority of the film he is a sympathetic villain. He didn't want to commit any crime, but he has and is sorry for it. This all changes at the end of the film and we get to see an evil Williams. Sadly the entire end didn't work for me, but I will explain this later. I have not seen Boys don't Cry or any other Hillary Swank movies but she did an adequate job on screen. There was a good seen close to the end where Ellie Burr (Swank) is debating disposing of evidence.
As for the movie itself there are a few problems. It is very slow in
paced. Which is quite fine for me, but the other viewers seemed to comment
negatively on this. I was sitting close to the people collecting viewer
comments and results appeared to be bad. The film is a drama with no
suspense after the first quarter of the film. I can understand how someone
expecting a thriller would feel ripped off. This drama is dealt with and
everything is resolved with about ten more minutes left in the film. The
problem is the way things are resolved doesn't leave a very good taste in
your mouth. SPOILER HIGHLIGHT TO READ:
Dormer has confessed his sins and is left to decide
if he will own up to them. Ellie Burr is weighing Dormers sin vs. his past
record. Enter here into the shoot out ending. This resolves with
negatives of ten minutes prior being taken care of. The problem is they
were attempting to create a sense of high suspense in just two scenes. It
felt out of place and didn't work for me. Should the film have just ended
on the questions, I would have been quite happy. The piece would have felt
more of a discussion on law and justice. Where eventually justice and
truth are satellites of conscious.
All in all I enjoyed it.
Later
Nazgul_Kidney
And now on to Tracey
Hi Harry,
So I only recently discovered your site, and as an avid movie fanatic I think I am in love (with the site that is). The reason I am writing though is that I went to the test-screening for Insomnia last night and I've always wanted to write a movie review, so here goes.
First I must admit that I haven't seen the original Insomnia, but I have seen Christopher Nolan's previous film, Momento, and thought that it was the most brilliant, mind-bending film I've ever seen. Unfortunately, Insomnia must be a follow-up and it pales in comparison. That being said, Insomnia is still a riveting police-suspense-psychological thriller movie that makes one think, and I highly recommend it.
The principal characters are performed brilliantly by Al Pacino, Hilary Swank and Robin Williams. Pacino is Pacino, and while he isn't better than usual, his usual is still pretty amazing. Hilary Swank is very convincing and brings depth to what could be a flat, stereotypical female rookie cop. Robin Williams is the biggest surprise though, in a huge departure from any previous role he brings a sense of calm and sadness to a truly twisted mind. Maura Tierney has a smaller role and she doesn't really stand out until the end of the movie in a scene with Pacino that was incredible. I forsee a lot of acclaim for her role. The other great character was the setting; Nolan captures the breath-taking beauty and isolation of Alaska, so much so that it becomes another character in the film. Beyond the major characters though things get a little weak. The supporting characters are very stereotypical and not very believably portrayed. Especially the police chief-I don't think he had a single line that wasn't painfully cliched.
Nolan does a very good job with the direction, using a lot of the same techniques as in Momento. Specifically the brief flash-backs to violent scenes that get longer and are explained later in the movie. It may change between now and opening day, but the beginning was a bit slow and some of the angles were questionable. It seemed he moved the camera around to disorient the viewer when Pacino was at his most lucid, an odd juxtaposition, and it left him with nowhere to go later in the movie when Pacino is so sleep-deprived he can barely drive. (There is a scene at the end of the movie with Pacino driving that made me jump out of my seat-I don't want to spoil it but OH MAN!!! it's scary). Still, Nolan is a master of creating tension and keeping you guessing as to what the characters will do next.
The movie does deal very well with what people intend to do and redemption, using a lot of imagery to represent ideas. It reminded me a lot of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner in that respect. I would definitely recommend this movie, but don't expect the same ground-breaking work as in Momento.
Tracey
PS-I was in Paris in May when Amelie came out and I would like to say that it is the best movie ever and everyone should go and see it because you will be a better, happier individual if you do.
