Starring: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Maura Tierney
Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Sometimes you see a movie that is such a load of horse manure, you wonder why they even bother making movies anymore. Insomnia is one of those movies that makes you glad they still make movies. In the heap of garbage that is summer movie-dom, Insomnia is a bright beacon of hope for the movie industry.

We get Al Pacino playing an L.A. detective who gets a serious case of insomnia while probing a murder case in Alaska. His character (Will Dormer, get it?) goes up there with a partner, but like the guy on the TV in the old Elmer Fudd cartoon says, "two go out, but only one comes back'. Yes, the partner is killed and now Dormer has a terrible secret. Worst still is that Robin Williams's author/murderer, Walter Finch, knows the secret. If Dormer drops the hammer on Finch, he in turn will tell about Dormer's little indiscretion. And so the game begins, masterfully directed by Christopher Nolan, who also did the great Memento last year.

Before seeing the movie, I, like most people, thought that this would be a standard cops hunting murderer movie, and boy was I wrong. There really is no chase for the killer. We know early on that Williams of the killer. The suspense comes from what Pacino's character will do to nail the murderer while protecting his career-threatening secret.

Every minute of Insomnia is engaging. I knew it would be good, because Pacino really doesn't make bad movies, but my expectations were topped and then some. The usual powerful performance by Pacino (not as over-acting as he usually does), but a surprisingly creepy turn by Williams is just icing on the cake. Also solid is Hilary Swank as the overeager, Dormer fan cop who figures things out.

So with other �ber-crap out there, why not reward a great film like Insomnia, instead of shelling out cash for Scooby-Doo or what have you. Go see it before it's too late. �See it�

DroopyMcC
Queen