Movie Review for Insomnia

Summary: A sleep-deprived detective is sent to a small Alaskan town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Forced into a psychological game of cat-and-mouse by the primary suspect, events escalate and the detective finds his own stability dangerously threatened.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Brian Webster of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            The filmmakers have succumbed to the temptation of saying too much and leaving too little for us ...

By Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/0)
            A deftly entertaining film, smartly played and smartly directed.

By Marjorie Baumgarten of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            Nolan proves that he can cross swords with the best of them and helm a more traditionally plotted...

By Jason Best of BBC (7/0)
            Pacino is brilliant as the sleep-deprived Dormer, his increasing weariness as much existential as...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            Unlike most remakes, the Nolan Insomnia is not a pale retread, but a re-examination of the materi...

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (7/0)
            Insomnia is a good movie that's falsely convinced it's a great one.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (7/0)
            Registers as a superb, intricate, emotional thriller, complete with an ending that complements th...

By Larry Carroll of Countingdown.com (7/0)
            Pacino and Williams seem to keep upping the ante on each other, just as their characters do in th...

By Shay Casey of Daily-Reviews (7/0)
            An artful, intelligent film that stays within the confines of a well-established genre.

By Steven D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide (7/0)
            At least you can care about the characters and the events — something I couldn’t say a...

By Erik Childress of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Both a picture in the Hitchcockian tradition designed to purely tingle your senses & a thinking p...

By Jason Anderson of eye WEEKLY (7/0)
            Remarkable for its intelligence and intensity.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By John R. McEwen of Film Quips Online (7/0)
            Pacino gives one of the best performances I've seen him in; his sense of sleeplessness is infectu...

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Pacino slips in and out of a Southern accent so badly it seems like a joke he's pulling on us... ...

By Victoria Alexander of FilmsInReview.com (7/0)
            Insomnia is one of the year's best films and Pacino gives one of his most daring, and complicated...

By Rick Groen of Globe and Mail (7/0)
            Runs on the pure adrenalin of Pacino's performance.

By Eric Lurio of Greenwich Village Gazette (7/0)
            We've got three Oscar-winning actors here and everybody does amazing work.

By Ross Anthony of Hollywood Report Card (7/0)
            meanders between its powerful moments.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            Allows us to hope that Nolan is poised to embark a major career as a commercial yet inventive fil...

By Eric Harrison of Houston Chronicle (7/0)
            It's gripping entertainment in a popular vein -- the police procedural -- that nevertheless follo...

By Gary Brown of Houston Community Newspapers (7/0)
            Insomnia loses points when it surrenders to a formulaic bang-bang, shoot-em-up scene at the concl...

By Liz Braun of Jam! Movies (7/0)
            A psychological thriller with a smart script and an obsessive-compulsive's attention to detail.

By Louis B. Hobson of Jam! Movies (7/0)
            A nightmarish thriller that continues to haunt the viewer long after the film's shocking and dist...

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (7/0)
            Anyone who caught the original "Insomnia" will tell you Skjoldbjaerg did a solid job with this ma...

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Mark Dujsik of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
            Nolan has not made a poor movie... but he has made a poor remake.

By Rene Rodriguez of Miami Herald (7/0)
            Proves the 32-year-old Nolan is the real deal, a gifted storyteller who knows how to use style, m...

By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            This isn’t a classic cop movie after all...

By Kevin A. Ranson of MovieCrypt.com (7/0)
            It's paced well, filmed well, and acted well, and it looks like everyone managed to pick up their...

By Spyder Darling of NY Rock (7/0)
            Robin Williams is cooler than a frozen cod in his most menacing part since Mrs. Doubtfire.

By Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (7/0)
            If you saw the Norwegian version there's no compelling reason to see this weaker one.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            The hook is the drama within the drama, as an unsolved murder and an unresolved moral conflict jo...

By James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk (7/0)
            Nolan shows that his achievement in Memento was no fluke, although this time around he plays it s...

By Andrew Manning of Radio Free Entertainment (7/0)
            Never reaches its full potential, but still manages to be better than the average, run-of-the-mil...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            Insomnia does not become one of those rare remakes to eclipse the original, but it doesn't disgra...

By Forrest Hartman of Reno Gazette-Journal (7/0)
            It’s a thinking man’s movie in the blockbuster season and an excellent counterbalance to the comi...

By Jack Garner of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (7/0)
            An impressive follow-up to Memento and confirms the director's considerable promise.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Harry Guerin of RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (7/0)
            A classic example of a director bringing his own vision to the mainstream.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (7/0)
            It'll keep you wide awake and ... very tense.

By Jim Judy of Screen It! (7/0)
            The film is a solid, character-driven piece, with a terrific visual look and a good score, but it...

By Sean Axmaker of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            Nolan bravely treads where few American films dare to delve -- into the world of ambivalence and ...

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            A psychologically rich and suspenseful moral thriller with a stellar performance by Al Pacino.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            While Insomnia is in many ways a conventional, even predictable remake, Nolan's penetrating under...

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (7/0)
            A skillfully complex and engrossing character study...A challenging piece of work that does not j...

By Urban Cinefile Critics of Urban Cinefile (7/0)
            Insomnia is as satisfying as insomnia isn’t; even jaded film palates will love this sophisticated...

By Mike Clark of USA Today (7/0)
            This remake gets all there is to get out of a peculiar premise with promise: Al Pacino loathing R...

By Stephen Hunter of Washington Post (7/0)
            You see Robin Williams and psycho killer, and you think, hmmmmm. You see the movie and you think,...

By Phil Villarreal of Arizona Daily Star (3/4) No reference
            The tense interplay between Pacino and Williams alone makes the film worth watching.

By Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune (3/4) No reference
            It's a crafty story told with more style and gray areas than your average thriller.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing (3/4) No reference
            The new Insomnia is a surprisingly faithful remake of its chilly predecessor, and when it does el...

By Arthur Lazere of culturevulture.net (3/4) No reference
            A worthy, if not particularly distinguished piece of entertainment.

By Boo Allen of Denton Record Chronicle (TX) (3/4) No reference
            Director Nolan shows here he can handle clever material with a flair.

By Staci Layne Wilson of Fantastica Daily (3/4) No reference
            An excellent film.

By Donald Munro of Fresno Bee (3/4) No reference
            Bristles with menace and a bleak, ambiguous morality that sets it far above the usual summer crop...

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (3/4) No reference
            A strong central character and pressing moral question elevates this crime drama above the rest.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Jay Boyar of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            The acting alone is worth the price of admission.

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
            A pretty good thriller, with three Oscar winners doing good work, especially Pacino.

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/4) No reference
            In a movie brimming with visual flair, Nolan also leaves room for his actors.

By Stefan Birgir Stefansson of sbs.is (3/4) No reference
            Very good...

By Todd Anthony of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            It proves quite compelling as an intense, brooding character study.

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) No reference
            It's a cat-and-mouse game, but Insomnia feels original because Pacino is both cat and mouse.

                         Reviews of Insomnia
By Peter Howell of Toronto Star (3/4) No reference
            Continually challenges perceptions of guilt and innocence, of good guys and bad, and asks us whet...

By Enrique Buchichio of Uruguay Total (3/4) No reference
            Uno de los policiales más interesantes de los últimos tiempos.

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