Ten Stars or Less

run time: 118 mins
rated: 14A
considered: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
starring: Al Pacino, Robin WIlliams, Hilary Swank

movie summary: Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn’t set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen. (www.imdb.com)

my thoughts: Insomnia stars Al Pacino as Will Dormer, a hot-shot detective from Los Angeles who ends up in northern Alaska to help solve a murder case. His biggest problem isn’t that he’s escaping the big city, where’s he’s under investigation for planting evidence, but that he’s in a place where the sun never sets. Dormer is on the trail of Robin Williams, who plays his second ever villain role as author Walter Finch. Finch knew the teenage victim on a personal level and ends up being a prime suspect. In order to catch Finch, Dormer must deal with some personal demons after he accidentally kills his partner in the great north woods. He never gets a good night sleep to help him cope with his life falling apart all around him. Finch uses the lack of sleep Dormer has been experiencing to play a perfect cat and mouse game to avoid being caught.

Hilary Swank also stars as the impressionable home town cop Ellie Burr who helps her detective idol Dormer track Williams.

Insomnia is directed by Christopher Nolan and features a decent cast of characters, which gives us a more psychological storyline then a shoot’em up style film.

my star rating: 8 out 10