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Title: Insomnia (2002)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Al Pacino | ... | Will Dormer | |
| Martin Donovan | ... | Hap Eckhart | |
 |
Oliver 'Ole' Zemen | ... | Pilot |
| Hilary Swank | ... | Ellie Burr | |
| Paul Dooley | ... | Chief Nyback | |
| Nicky Katt | ... | Fred Duggar | |
| Larry Holden | ... | Farrell | |
| Jay Brazeau | ... | Francis | |
| Lorne Cardinal | ... | Rich | |
| James Hutson | ... | Officer #1 | |
|
|
Andrew Campbell | ... | Officer #2 |
| Paula Shaw | ... | Coroner | |
| Crystal Lowe | ... | Kay Connell | |
| Tasha Simms | ... | Mrs. Connell | |
| Maura Tierney | ... | Rachel Clement | |
Sent from the city to investigate the murder of a teenage girl in a small Alaska town, a police detective (Pacino) accidentally shoots his own partner while trying to apprehend a suspect. Instead of admitting his guilt, the detective is given an unexpected alibi, but this "solution" only multiplies the emotional complexity and guilt over his partner's death. He's also still got a murder to solve, in addition to the blackmail and framing of an innocent bystander being orchestrated by the man they were chasing. There's also a local detective (Swank) who is conducting her own personal investigation... of his partner's death. Will it all come crashing down on him? Written by greg Dean Scmitz
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I erred in giving into temptation to watch the original Norwegian "Insomnia" on IFC just a couple of weeks before seeing this Hollywood re-make directed by indie-credible "Memento" Christopher Nolan with a very effective Academy Award-winning cast.
The original movie had a tiny budget and also an excellent cast, led by the terrific Swede Stellan Skarsgård, growing as pale as that relentless sunshine during the course of the film; the usually haggard-looking Al Pacino interprets his insomnia visually through an ever more haggard face.
Though the original film isn't given as the source material until well into the closing credits, this follows the main thrust of the story closely. The changes, though, are both subtle and significant and intriguingly as American as Sam Spade when the mise en scene gets moved to Alaska (actually shot in Vancouver). Significantly, there is less sex and more morality.
Hilary Swank's character is more naive than her counterpart; Martin Donovan's character's role is more central to the story and, of course, Robin Williams gets more screen time than his original counterpart, as the conflict is less in the lead's mind and more on the screen as a duel. The plot twists are done differently so I shamefully got confused between the two movies.
While not as overwhelming as the original, I do think this version should rank right up with the great detective/cop-does-the-right-thing movies, and the plot makes more sense than "The Big Sleep."
(originally written 6/16/2002)