MichaelMRamey This was a great twist on the classic cat and mouse crime thriller. Al Pacino is great and Robin Williams is even better. It's amazing how many films I can watch of him and completely escape into his character. There are some great subtle details that you can enjoy It on rewatch. I didn't realize this was directed by Christopher Nolan until after I watched the film and now I understand the attention to detail. Would highly recommend for anyone who loves a good crime thriller.

ferdinandfoldvik The first 40 min. of this film is goddamn fantastic! Se7en (1995) has been my favourite movie for a LONG time. And for a while, nothing could take it's place. But Insomnia (2002) is even BETTER that Se7en! The story is about homicide detective Will Dormer (Pacino), and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) going to a suburban Alaskan town, to investigate the murder of a 17 year old girl. After meeting with the fresh, young detective Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), and stopping at a local hotel, they start investigating the corpse. They find out that she had been beaten to death. And that the killer clipped her nails and washed her hair. After a while, they start investigating a cabin in the woods. Then a mysterious man with a raincoat, starts walking to the cabin. After screwing up with a megaphone, The mysterious man gets afraid that he is being tailed and Dormer and a team of the local police, tries to hunt him down. They run inside the cabin and split up. They find out that the man has escaped down to a beach, near his house. Dormer then hunt's him down to the beach. The beach is FILLED with blue fog, making it really hard to see. Dormer meets up with his team, and then one of them gets shot. Dormer then tries to chase down the man, and shoots him. Due to Dormer's limited vision in the fog, he shoots his partner, Hap instead, and the mysterious man gets away. Hap dies and, Dormer tries to cover it up. Kay (the 17 year old girl) was beaten up by her boyfriend (Rick or Ricky). They interrogated Rick for answers but they didn't get any (this is before Dormer shot Hap). There is more to discuss but, I could go on for hours about this film.

martinrking Strong performances, a captivating central conflict, and beautiful landscapes of Canada. Distracting plot holes take away from the experience: Pacino's character gets around Alaska as if he knows the state like the back of his hand. The ending is a dumb shoot-out. It's a disappointing conclusion for sure.

swilliky Christopher Nolan takes on a noir detective story with a unique location. Detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino) arrives in Alaska, tired but ready to work. He and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are greeted by local policewoman Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank). The Los Angeles detectives are investigating the murder of a young high school girl Kay Connell (Crystal Low) but Dormer is disoriented by the daylight in the middle of the night. They stay at a hotel run by Rachel Clement (Maura Tierney). Hap is being investigated by Internal Affairs and is thinking of confessing which would incriminate Will. The next morning on little sleep, Will and Hap head to the high school to interrogate Kay's boyfriend Randy Stetz (Jonathan Jackson) who is uncooperative during the questioning. He does admit that Kay was seeing someone else but he doesn't know who it is. Will treats Ellie as a protégé schooling her on the procedure and the little things of an investigation. When Kay's bookbag is found in a cabin, it provides clues and a trap for Will to devise. Dormer continues to threat over the IA investigation, doubting his own tactics. When the amateur Alaskan police botch the stakeout alerting the suspect, a foot chase ensues through the cabin and fog. A policeman is shot but Will Dormer pursues the suspect across slick rocks and fires into the mist possibly shooting and killing his partner Hap. Overcome with grief, Will is unable to sleep and keeps reflecting back on his previous shortcuts he took to nab awful criminals. He works to cover up the possibility that he shot his partner as he becomes increasingly dazed. Noises disturb him and he hallucinates his partner giving him accusatory looks. The killer calls him up on the phone and reveals that he knows of Will's guilt in killing his partner. Ellie suspects that something isn't quite right with Will's account of his partner's shooting. Will confront Tanya Francke (Katharine Isabelle) taking her to the dump where Kay's body was dumped after spooking her by playing chicken with a truck. Tanya mentions Kay's secret lover who promised the young victim all sorts of things. The killer calls him again at the station taunting him about what he knows and Will offers to meet him. He deciphers the clues and heads to the house of Walter Finch (Robin Williams), a mystery novel author.Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com