Hey folks, Harry here... if you haven't seen the original INSOMNIA, pop over to Amazon and buy that Criterion disc asap. Freaking great film! If you don't want to do that because you're functionally illiterate and can't read... well, I suppose all this typing is going to waste, unless your computer is reading it outloud to you, in which case... FUCKING LEARN TO READ and BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!!
Tonight the University of Okalhoma held a screening for Christopher Nolan's new flick that was not Star Wars. See, this summer there's pretty much only two categories of movies. Movies that are Star Wars, and movies that aren't. During the hot summer months, while us frothing-at-the-mouth fanboys are spending day long trips at the cineplex going in and out of Episode II screenings just to better understand the inner complexites of Chancellor Palpatine's plans to crumble the Republic... we may easily forget that there are 19 other theatres all around us playing stories that don't have anything at all to do in the slightest with a galaxy far far away. So here and now, I, Mike Jade, shall alert the public to Christopher Nolan's INSOMNIA.
First I should say that I'm about as big a fan of MEMENTO as you could be, and therein may lie the source of my problems with this film. A small slightly-spoiler filled overview of the plot is as follows: Two L.A. Homicide Detectives played by Al Pacino and Martin Donovan are sent to Nightmute, a small Alaskan town to aide local police, the primary one played by Hillary Swank, in investigating the murder of a teenage girl. It is here in this town that Pacino accidentally shoots and kills his partner while chasing the teenager's killer. The question is: Was it an accident, or did Pacino want to silence his partner who had dirt on him? He covers it up, and makes it look like the killer was the one who shot his partner, and he does a pretty good job of it. Except for the fact that the one witness to the shooting, other than Pacino, was the killer himself, played by Robin Williams. Because of this, Williams believes that both men share a common bond. He believes that they have both killed before, but they aren't murderers. Just two men caught in the heat of the moment. Thinking this is a shield for himself, Williams begins calling Pacino in the wee hours of the night hoping that together they'll both cover up the shooting of the homicide detective, and pin the girl's murder on someone else. He sees himself as Pacino's new partner... And for a little bit, it looks like the sleep-deprived Pacino is going to go along with it.
First off what I liked: The town. It's set in an Alaskan summer, so the town is in constant daylight, which sets INSOMNIA apart from other modern Detective/Killer films. The town of Nightmute is about as much removed from the rain drenched dirty city streets of SE7EN as a movie town can get while still having a murderer loose on it's sidewalks. The vibe of the town I suppose is a Twin Peaks/Stephen King feel. It's got the aura of David Lynch's town, with the regularity of King's characters. It's because of this town's eternal days that Al Pacino cannot sleep, hence the title.
Then there's Pacino and Williams. These two are absolute masters of their craft, and I'll defend that statement to the bitter end. Sure. Williams may have consistantly made some damn atrocious films during the 90's, but the man's talent is impossible to deny. Shitty movies, great actor. Pacino, the yelling man's actor, pulls in another fantastic performance. And oh yes, the latter-year Pacino tradmarks are there, the screaming, the dancing, his I-Can-Act-Circles-Around-All-You-People-But-I'm-Just-Here-For-The-Catering attitude is in full glorius effect. But there's also a degree of subtlty to the role. True, subtlty and Al Pacino don't quite go hand in hand these days, but the man is portraying an insomniac, and as the film goes on you can observe how the weight of sleepless nights takes it's toll on the detective, and eventually finds a way to taint every aspect of his being. It's quite fascinating most times, but for some reason, a bit under-developed at others. But the first scene between Williams and Pacino on the ferry is wonderful. You truly see the darkness in both characters, and what's intriging is that it's easier to see it in Pacino than in Williams. Williams' character is not a serial killer, and he doesn't portray him as such. It's almost as if his character from Good Will Hunting took a walk with Norman Bates, and was enraptured in what the psychopath had to tell him. He's a decent man who found himself in a position where we had no choice but to kill a girl. He isn't really like this, just a good man backed into a wall with no other options. Whether or not this is the case remains to be seen until the very end.
So that's what I really dug about the film. The nightmare town that Pacino finds no way out of, and the perfomances of both Pacino and Williams. As for what I didn't like...
First off, the music didn't do it for me this time. Which is strange, because at times it seemed as if Nolan took the soundtrack album of Memento, and just placed it over random scenes. The kind of music style that was so effective in heightening the drama of Memento seems to drag many scenes down in this film. At times, the score worked, but in others, like Pacino's initial scenes in the police station, it was unnecessary and a little distracting. The next is the Williams' character. I think the film takes far too long to introduce him. However, because of having to set up plotpoints involving Pacino, I don't really see how to get him in any earlier. Which is kind of a shame. Like I said, Pacino and Williams are the film's strong points, and when they finally begin their dance, the movie is all ready in it's second and last hour. I wanted more with these two men. I was fascinated with the parallels running between them that may or may not be there. I wanted more. There's an exchange of dialouge that really hits it home, and it goes something like this:
Pacino: You beat and murdered Kay for ten minutes, you call that an accident?
Williams: You shot your partner in a second and a half, is that any less of an accident?
I think that's how it went. Probably completly off, but ah well. In the end, do I recommend INSOMNIA? Yes I do. I had problems with it, I disliked how it's climax culminated into a standard shoot-out, but besides that it's harder to pin down the big things I'd like to have seen done differently. It's not like watching Spielberg adding alien looking robots to the last twenty minutes of A.I. It's small things. Things that will probably work for some, but not for others. In the end, I really hope this does something good for Robin Williams. This is the second of Robin Williams' 2002 Dark Character Trilogy, and I hope he gets more respect for it. I actually enjoyed the hell out of Death to Smoochy, and am waiting eagerly for One Hour Photo. I just hope that in 2003, people aren't saying, "Nice try, Robin, when does shooting on Jacob the Liar 2 start, you crazy fuck?"
-Mike Jade
Now from Irvine come Curly Asian Fries and Red Tornado...
Hey, two long time readers here, first time writing in. Anyway, lets get to the subject at hand. Were two film students from University of California Irvine and we caught a screening of Chris Nolan's Insomnia starring Al Pacino, Robert Williams and Hillary Swank. For all you that dont know, Nolan also directed last years favorite Memento, so we had pretty high hopes for this one. First, lets get to the acting, as everyone wants to know how Pacino and Williams interact. We have to be honest right off the bat, Al Pacino's performence is not one of his best, but he still pulls off the job. Hillary Swank is reduced to a fairly simple role as a young, naive cop. Compared to her role in Boys Don't Cry, this is a fairly standard performence by a good actress. Now everyone ones to know how Robert Williams is as a badass killer. We have to say its threatening but not frightening, and could of been better. The interactions between Pacino and Williams were fun to watch especially when they were beating the hell out of eachother, but again, it seemed almost unispired. Both characthers could of used a little more motivation.
Now on to the plot, writing and directing. We heard this movie is a remake of a foreign film starring Stellan Skarsgarrd, from Good Will Hunting. The plot hence is not all that original, although Christopher Nolan's strong ability to keep the tension high and make the film move at a fast pace are what makes the movie entertaining overall. The Writing by Hillary Seitz is smart and well-structured. (although not as well-structured as Memento) Dialogue, espiecally between Pacino and Williams is sharp and funny at times. At least there is strong chemistry between Pacino and Williams, as no one can deny it is entertaining to watch these two characthers try to out smart one another.
Overall, we highly recomend this film when it comes out May 24th, as it is sure to be one of the better films of the summer when one tires of all the brainless popcorn movies, like the MI:2's, the Tomb Raider's and the JP3's. Bottom line, who can resist a film with Pacino. Not to mention Robbin Williams being a cold hearted killer. May looks like a great month for movies with Spider-Man, Episode II, and now this film. This film does not top Memento, but not many movies can. For you guys that want a movie with true tension, this is for you. It sure as hell has been a long time for us.
Two UCI geeks hoping you guys check out this film, we'll report back in a couple weeks with the new John Woo movie Windtalkers.
Curly Asian Fries and Red Torpedo, out.
