Robin Williams mesmerizes in the midnight-sun thriller.
And Al Pacino does a lot of Al Pacino-ing.
Every week, Entertainment Weekly is looking back at the biggest movies of the summer of 2002.
Al Pacino and Robin Williams in ‘Insomnia’.Everett Collection
Join us for a rewatch of the first true summer of Hollywood’s strange new millennium.
When I sawInsomniaon opening weekend, I was a devotedMementohead who lovedHeat.
Pacino now looks a bit more mannered than I remember him.
Hilary Swank in ‘Insomnia’.Everett Collection
Williams is still very scary.Hilary Swankis present.
is very possibly the funniest moment in any Christopher Nolan movie.
Leah, how did the movie play for you in 2022?
LEAH:To be fair the Nolan Hilarity Index is not a high bar, but I hear you.
The actor, 62 at the time, plays Det.
Of course the sun never sets in this town, which is the point.
When an increasingly sleep-deprived Will accidentally shoots his partner (Martin Donovan) or “accidentally”?
More nightmares over that homicidal lumber than anything inInception).
Katt and his two thumbs?
DARREN:My answer isMaura Tierneywith anyone.
“There are two kinds of people who live in Alaska,” she tells Will.
“The ones who were born here and the ones who come here to escape something else.
I wasn’t born here.”
She never explains the last part and she doesn’t judge Will for his sins.
Finch also stands out, even if his chatty monster is the prototype for certain Bat-hating antagonists.
It helps that Williams and Pacino are so akimbo.
But Williams plays Finch with a low-key slither and sly warmth.
Williams was one of the great stand-ups, and Tierney was just a few years fromNewsRadio.
Certainly, the eerie warmth they both generate makes the rest of the movie feel a bit chilly.
Besides the log-rolling scene, what’s your favorite set piece in the movie, Leah?
And am I alone in wishing that Williams could’ve worked with Nolan again?
(Surely Michael Caine could’ve taken a break and let Williams play justonementor figure?)
Do you think Willreallydidn’t know that was his partner when he pulled the trigger?
Hot tip from the LAPD.
Doubtfiresand more toward the darkness.
But you tell me, Darren, whereInsomniafalls in your own Nolan pantheon.
(Feel free to give your rating in logs, or small unfortunate dogs.)
A summer movie season with decently-budgeted, grown-up, downbeat films hitting the multiplex with some regularity?
Only in our dreams, I’m afraid.
Like Dormer says: Let me sleep.
Read past 2002 rewatches:
