IT'S WELL WORTH LOSING SLEEP OVER.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic ETHICAL ROT is a condition Al Pacino has played many times. In ``Insomnia,'' however, he miraculously shows us its destructive progression on a face that appears to decay a little more with each passing scene. It's a living
Pacino's weary face, with its majestically blurred eyes, is not ``Insomnia's'' only great component, but it is the key one. Set against the vast magnificence of the Western North (British Columbia British Columbia, province (2001 pop. 3,907,738), 366,255 sq mi (948,600 sq km), including 6,976 sq mi (18,068 sq km) of water surface, W Canada. Geography , actually, subbing for arctic Alaska Arctic Alaska is a region of the U.S. state of Alaska generally referring to the northern areas on or close to the Arctic Ocean. It commonly includes North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Nome Census Area, Wade Hampton Census Area, and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. ), Christopher Nolan's psychologically loaded police procedural police procedural n. A story or drama about the investigation of a crime by the police. police procedural Noun a novel, film, or television drama that deals with police work does incredibly inventive things with mist, floating logs and the unnerving un·nerve tr.v. un·nerved, un·nerv·ing, un·nerves 1. To deprive of fortitude, strength, or firmness of purpose. 2. To make nervous or upset. , ever-present light of the polar midnight sun. But as they did in last year's ``Memento,'' Nolan and his perceptive cinematographer Wally Pfister keep their lenses intent on their most fascinating subject, a man whose moral justifications have turned his outward appearance into a relief map of his inner torment. Speaking of torment, those who were vexed by ``Memento's'' backward storytelling and memory-deficient hero won't have nearly as hard a time following ``Insomnia.'' Its plot sticks pretty close to the Norwegian film it's based on, a linear nonmystery in which the most obvious suspect is quickly identified as the perpetrator A term commonly used by law enforcement officers to designate a person who actually commits a crime. and the real drama explores that oldest of plots: What happens to a good cop who does something bad. Hillary Seitz's script for the American version, however, adds a few crucial, extra layers of backstory back·sto·ry n. 1. The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a literary, cinematic, or dramatic work: , subconscious motive and identity transferal. Those elements make for both richer characterizations and deeper, Hitchcockian crosscurrents of guilt and suspense. This is that rare bird, a better Hollywood remake of a European film. Pacino's Will Dormer dormer Window set vertically in a structure that projects from a sloping roof. It often illuminates a bedroom. In the late Gothic and early Renaissance periods, elaborate masonry dormers were designed. , a legendary LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. detective and respected author of books about his field, and partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) fly up to the Alaskan hamlet of Nightmute to help an old colleague, now the police chief there, investigate the murder of a teen-age girl. They're greeted by the green but eager Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank), who hero-worships Dormer but whose dogged attempts to emulate her idol could prove his undoing. There was an ulterior reason for getting the two cops out of L.A.: something about an internal-affairs investigation that's causing a great deal of friction between the partners. With that situation nagging them and the perpetual summer light disrupting their sleep patterns, Dormer and Eckhart nonetheless set an efficient trap for the killer. Thanks to the locals' incompetence and an obscuring sea mist, he escapes, leaving Dormer to commit a deadly accident that, for more than simply selfish reasons, he goes about the deceptively easy task of covering up. But the killer saw him do it. Worse, he wants to be friends. Stop reading now if you want to be surprised and haven't heard any of the numerous reports that this is a certain beloved comic actor's year for dark roles. If you're still with me, you'll be pleased to know that Robin Williams' devious, subtly psychotic turn here is some of the finest work of his career, and beautifully matches, in their scenes together, Pacino's uncharacteristically whispery portrayal of a man losing every one of his bearings. You'd have to go back to ``Strangers on a Train'' to find a psychic collusion between villain-and-protagonist this complete and this gnarly (jargon) gnarly - /nar'lee/ Both obscure and hairy. "Yow! - the tuned assembler implementation of BitBlt is really gnarly!" From a similar but less specific usage in surfer slang. . Add all those Hitchcock echoes to the iconic baggage Pacino brings from three ``Godfathers,'' ``Serpico'' and the like, and you've got to ask: Could this movie get any more Roman Catholic? Indeed it can. In what could be the most extraordinary speech of Pacino's film career, Dormer confesses his venal VENAL. Something that is bought. The term is generally applied in a bad sense; as, a venal office is an office which has been purchased. but damning cop sin to a motel room Madonna and that relentless white night of the soul, streaming through an unmaskable window like God's judgment or pity. It's a great scene in a movie that has many, and one that raises up all of the elements - visuals, acting, words and what they all mean - into a cinematic moment that will shine for the ages. INSOMNIA - Four stars (Rated R: violence, nudity, language) Starring: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney Maura Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an Emmy-nominated American actress, best known for her roles on television, particularly as a cast member of the 1990s situation comedy NewsRadio and, later, the long-running medical drama ER . , Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt. Director: Christopher Nolan. Running time: 1 hr. 58 min. Playing: Wide release. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Al Pacino and Hilary Swank pursue an ingenious killer in the thriller ``Insomnia.'' |
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