Insomnia on DVD

After the commercial and critical success of Memento, many were interested to see what director Christopher Nolan would do next.

Many were not disappointed.

Al Pacino is Will Dormer, a high profile homicide detective sent to Alaska to investigate a murder. While on the trail of the suspect, he accidentally shoots his partner. Unfortunately, the bad guy sees him do it and blackmails Dormer into helping him.

It doesn't help that it's the time of year at which it never gets dark. Dormer has to deal with the taunting of the man he’s trying to catch, as well as the guilt of his partner’s death eating away at him.

Pacino is the kind of actor who couldn't put in a bad performance if he tried. In this case, you actually believe he really went without sleep for five days. But Robin Williams, despite his reputation for zany comedic antics, steals the show as (gasp!) the bad guy. His dramatic style works perfectly, adding the creepiness needed to pull off the character.

Hilary Swank is also good (though her role is underwritten) as the Alaskan detective on the case of Dormer's partner's death.

Insomnia’s only flaw lies in its ending. A film like this cries out for a juicy twist, or at least something bigger than it has. You can feel the tension building and building, but you’re ultimately left thinking: “that can’t have really been the ending,” and hoping for something else to happen. It would be a fine ending for a movie that wasn’t so well done in every other way, but here it just isn't enough.

Nolan's work is great; he's clearly developed his own style and has proven himself as a great actor’s director. He could probably pull a good performance out of Keanu Reeves!

Insomnia is easily the best thriller of the year, with a great story, brilliant acting and superb direction. It’s an easy recommend for anyone, especially fans of the genre.

The DVD would be nearly perfect it if had a slightly better audio track. The picture is excellent and there are plenty of supplements, but the sound is merely good.

Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, you really can’t ask for better picture quality than this. It’s absolutely flawless in every respect. The audio, however, suffers from the same affliction as many tracks: lack of surround use. There are a few sound effects here and there that manage to find their way from the rear speakers, but it’s otherwise a front-confined track. It would have been great to hear Robin Williams’ creepy voice on the phone coming from the rear speakers, for example; it probably would have greatly added to the scenes.

Warner has packed the disc full of interesting (for the most part) extras, beginning with one and a half commentaries. Christopher Nolan provides a full-length commentary and, in a nice unique twist, he does it in the order in which the movie was shot. It’s a very nice way to do it, though Nolan does tend to focus on technical aspects which may prove uninteresting for some. Secondly is about 45 minutes worth of scene-specific commentaries by Hilary Swank, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Dody Dorn, cinematographer Wally Pfister and screenwriter Hillary Seitz.

There is an additional scene that, for once, may actually have added to the movie. It’s a nice three-minute dialogue exchange between Al Pacino and Maura Tierney that helps us understand the characters quite a bit more.

Four featurettes are also included. The first is a short making-of documentary that is the usual PR stuff, and the second is an equally unnecessary one called “Eyes Wide Open: The Insomniac’s World.” It runs about 8 minutes or so and features interviews with real-life insomniacs and a couple of insomnia experts. It’s supposed to teach us all about the condition, but doesn’t.

Next is a 12-minute conversation between Nolan and Pacino, which is interesting enough. The two discuss preparing for the movie and we learn a thing or two about the different ways actors and directors get ready for a film. Finally, there is “In the Fog,” which seems to be the same set of clips (from the movie and behind-the-scenes) shown twice, once with commentary by production designer Nathan Crowley, and again with commentary by cinematographer Wally Pfister.

Insomnia, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
118 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney, Martin Donovan
Produced by Paul Junger Witt, Edward L. McDonnell, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove
Screenplay by Hillary Seitz
Directed by Christopher Nolan

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