Insomnia [WS] [With Movie Cash] [Blu-ray]

Director: Christopher Nolan Christopher Nolan

Overview

Director Christopher Nolan follows up his breakthrough sophomore film Memento with this remake of a stylish Norwegian thriller. Al Pacino stars as Detective Will Dormer, a Los Angeles Police Department legend who temporarily escapes an internal affairs investigation that may ruin his career by traveling to Nightmute, AK, the remote site of a murder that has the local authorities flummoxed. Along with his partner, Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan), and the small town's wide-eyed rookie investigator, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), the exhausted Dormer probes the brutal slaying of a teenage girl who was rumored to have a secret lover. A clever ruse quickly lures the killer into a police trap, but the suspect escapes and a tragic accident at the scene leaves Dormer at the mercy of the murderer, a pulp crime novelist named Walter Finch (Robin Williams). As Finch plays a dangerous game of extortion with Dormer, the detective's mental health deteriorates rapidly from guilt over his complicity in a crime and sleep deprivation compounded by the lack of darkness in the land of the midnight sun. Meanwhile, the bright and dogged Ellie continues putting the pieces of a complex puzzle together despite Dormer's skillful attempts to lead the investigation toward the right suspect, but away from his own malfeasance. Insomnia co-stars Paul Dooley, Nicky Katt, Maura Tierney, and Jonathan Jackson.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/2010
UPC:	0883929108985
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	14,769

Special Features

Additional scenes; Commentaries:; -Director Christopher Nolan (commentary in order of shooting sequence); -Hilary Swank, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Dody Dorn, cinematographer Wally Pfister and screenwriter Hillary Seitz; 4 featurettes: ; -Day for Night: Making the movie ; -180°: A conversation with Christopher Nolan and Al Pacino; -In the Fog: Cinematography and production design; -Eyes Wide Open: The insomniac's world; Stills gallery; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Al Pacino	Det. Will Dormer
Robin Williams	Walter Finch
Hilary Swank	Det. Ellie Burr
Maura Tierney	Rachel Clement
Martin Donovan	Hap Eckhart
Nicky Katt	Fred Duggar
Paul Dooley	Chief Charles Nyback
Jonathan Jackson	Randy Stetz
Katharine Isabelle	Tanya Francke
Oliver 'Ole' Zemen	Pilot
Larry Holden	Farrell
Jay Brazeau	Francis
Lorne Cardinal	Rich
James Hutson	Officer No. 1
Andrew Campbell	Officer No. 2
Crystal Lowe	Kay Connell
Paula Shaw	Coroner
Ken Kirzinger	Stunt Coordinator
Tasha Simms	Mrs. Connell
Malcom Boddington	Principal
Emily Perkins	Girl At Funeral,Girl at Funeral
Kerry Sandomirsky	Trish Eckhart
Chris Guthior	Uniformed Officer
Ian Tracey	Warfield
Kate Robbins	Woman on the Road
Dean Wray	Ticket Taker

Technical Credits

Hillary Seitz

Christopher Nolan	Director
George Clooney	Executive Producer,Producer
Broderick Johnson	Producer
Ken Kirzinger	Stunts
Andrew A. Kosove	Producer
Marci Liroff	Casting
Edward L. McDonnell	Producer
Kim Roth	Executive Producer,Producer
Charles J.D. Schlissel	Executive Producer,Producer
Randy Shymkiw	Special Effects
Steven Soderbergh	Executive Producer,Producer
Tony Thomas	Executive Producer,Producer
Paul Junger Witt	Producer
Hillary Seitz	Screenwriter
Rick Burgess	Stunts
Dean Choe	Stunts
Larry Sutton	Sound/Sound Designer,Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

One of the most riveting psychological thrillers of recent years, the intricately written, tautly directed Insomnia is further enhanced by superb performances from two enormously gifted actors. Al Pacino shines as a famous Los Angeles police detective working a murder case in Alaska while trying to ride out an internal-affairs investigation back home. Robin Williams portrays the murderer, a clever detective-story writer who reveals his identity to Pacino early on and engages the detective in a potentially deadly cat-and-mouse game. In this American-made adaptation of a well-received 1997 Norwegian film (which starred Stellan Skarsgard as the cop), director Christopher Nolan retains the original’s primary gimmick: Suddenly transported to the land of the midnight sun, the detective is unable to adjust, and his mental acuity is blunted by sleep deprivation. Both Pacino and Williams are uncharacteristically understated, and they receive top-notch support from Hilary Swank (as an eager-beaver Alaskan cop who admires the L.A. detective), Maura Tierney, Nicky Katt, Martin Donovan, and Paul Dooley. The multilayered plot unfolds without resorting to phony melodrama or cheap shocks, which automatically gives Nolan’s movie an edge on the competition. In a genre too often dominated by lazy scripting, two-dimensional characters, and formulaic direction, Insomnia gets extremely high marks. In addition to supplying his own feature-length commentary for the DVD, Nolan conducts an on-camera interview with Pacino and provides commentary for deleted and extended scenes. Swank does her own commentary, and there are two making-of featurettes along with a gallery of stills, production sketches, and posters.