Insomnia opens with two Los Angeles Homicide Detectives, Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) arriving in a quiet Alaska town, Nightmute, to investigate the murder of a beautiful teenage girl found bludgeoned to death. While seeking the murderer, blinded by the Alaska fog, Dormer accidentally shoots his partner. Instead of admitting to the accidental shooting, Dormer blames it on the girl's killer. Shortly thereafter, Dormer becomes plagued by insomnia. He blames his lack of sleep on the perpetual light in Alaska at the time of year, but it is clear that guilt and questions about his own conduct are at the root of his insomnia. Matters are complicated when Dormer is contacted by the girl's killer, who saw Dormer shoot his partner. The killer, a local mystery author (Williams), proceeds to blackmail Dormer to frame another person for the girl's murder, in exchange for keeping quiet about the shooting. However, ambitious Nightmute detective, Ellie Burr (Swank) is assigned to investigate the Eckhart shooting and may find Dormer out on her own.
Pacino, who has not appeared in any major studio releases since 1999's The Insider and Any Given Sunday, delivers another fine performance in Insomnia. His portrayal of reflects the difficulty Dormer confronts in handling serious moral and ethical dilemnas and it is fascinating to watch Pacino convey the way Dormer slips further into the fog induced by his insomnia. Pacino's performance allows the audience to empathize with this character-a character who is dishonest but essentially good. Robin Williams is also incredible in this film, playing the conniving killer. Although, Williams has attempted darker roles in the past (he was a dishonest and ultimately psychotic kids' television star in Death to Smoochy), his performance in Insomnia is a standout. He manages to convey desperation, regret, cruelty, and a lack of conscience simultaneously, like any good sociopath, and occasionally even manages to provoke sympathy, if even for a brief moment. It is also wonderful to see Hilary Swank in another film. Last year's The Affair of the Necklace came and went without much notice and she really has not been in anything else since her Oscar-winning turn in Boys Don't Cry. Taking on the role of Ellie Burr was a smart choice, and Swank delivers a great performance as a young, impressionable and whip-smart detective.
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