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Pacino's 'Insomnia' performance is an eye-opener
Director Christopher Nolan, hot off Memento, constructed another compelling psychological drama.
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 17, 2002
Insomnia (R)
[Photo: Warner Bros.]
Al Pacino, right, as a chronically sleepless detective, tracks a killer in Alaska. The chief suspect is a mild-mannered author played by Robin Williams in Insomnia.
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A chronically sleepless detective (Al Pacino) tracks a killer in Alaska, where the midnight sun doesn't help his condition. His partner (Martin Donovan) has some internal affairs issues to settle and a local sheriff (Hilary Swank) doesn't have a clue. The chief suspect is a mild-mannered author (Robin Williams) who turns the tables on his pursuers. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the mind behind last year's superb Memento, and adapted from a 1997 Norwegian thriller.
First impressions: "Pacino has the right, restless eyes to play Will, a physical trait so strong that the actor's occasional feigning of wooziness isn't necessary. Nolan constructs a stimulating psychological drama around this fatigued character, continuing the lurid appeal of his acclaimed debut Memento. Working backward in time (as in that film) or fatefully forward (as here), Nolan confirms he's our foremost thrillermaker, getting under a viewer's skin by the most satisfying route: through the mind."
Second thoughts: Pacino's performance is still one of the year's best, although the film likely arrived too early in 2002 for Oscar voters to notice.
DVD extras: Two audio commentary tracks featuring Nolan, Swank and several technical artists; a conversation with Nolan and Pacino, a guide to insomnia, a making-of documentary and a featurette on the film's unusual day-for-night cinematography.
Rental audience: Pacino fans, viewers impressed with Williams' even darker turn in One Hour Photo.
Rent it if you enjoy: The original Insomnia; Sea of Love.
Life or Something Like It (PG-13)
[Photo: Twentieth Century Fox]
Angelina Jolie, right, with Chris Shyer, is a television morning-show anchor in Life or Something Like It. |
Television personality Lanie Kerigan (Angelina Jolie) seems to have it all until a homeless prophet (Tony Shalhoub) predicts she'll die in a week. Lanie throws caution to the wind and her affections toward her cameraman (Edward Burns) in an erratic feel-bad-then-maybe-you'll-feel-good-again movie.
First impressions: "It's a curious film that can't decide whether it wants to be a frothy romantic comedy, the kind spinning on some fateful twist that never happens to anyone in real life, or a profound drama of personal discovery. Director Stephen Herek can't have it both ways, any more than Lanie can. It's hard to tell which identity crisis is more wasteful, hers or the movie's."
Second thoughts: The movie only took a week to die in theaters.
DVD extras: Audio commentary with director Stephen Herek only.
Rental audience: Jolie's diminishing fan base; manic-depressives.
Rent it if you enjoy: Girl, Interrupted; collagen injections.
Windtalkers (R)
[Photo: MGM]
Nicolas Cage, right, is assigned to protect translator Adam Beach, left, in Windtalkers.
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First impressions: "Woo's battle scenes, longer and bloodier than any such sequences this side of Saving Private Ryan, are smartly photographed and expertly staged. Woo allows for pockets of startling intimacy, if you will, as hand-to-hand combatants get close enough to see one another. In that respect, Windtalkers is less about the rah-rah spirit of war than it is about the human cost of military conflict. In these troubled times, it's a message worth taking to heart." (Philip Booth, Times staff writer)
Second thoughts: Moviegoers were battle-fatigued by the time this one reached theaters, resulting in the lowest box office numbers of any post-Sept. 11 military movie.
DVD extras: None.
Rental audience: War movie buffs.
Rent it if you enjoy: Saving Private Ryan, The Outsider.
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