Insomnia (2002)

This pre-Batman Christopher Nolan film is a remake of a 1997 Norwegian movie of the same name, though as made plain in the commentary the director was more interested in playing with the mood and themes of the original then doing an exhaustive retread of the plot. The story concerns legendary LA Police detective William Dormer (Al Pacino playing a grizzled veteran police detective as only he can) and his partner Hap Eckhardt (Martin Donovan) who have been loaned out to a small town police department in Nightmute, Alaska (there is some history here between Dormer and the local chief played by Paul Dooley, but its details are never made clear) to investigate the murder of a 17 year old girl, Kay Connell (Crystal Lowe). While trying to hunt down the girls killer, and getting little-to-no sleep as a result of the seasonal "midnight sun", Dormer also must deal with learning that his partner is going to testify against him in an ongoing Internal Affairs investigation back home. Luring the killer to the location at which Connell's body was found by planting a false report that her backpack was still missing in the local press, Dormer shoots and kills his partner in the dense fog. Knowing how this will look Dormer decides to claim that the shot came from the fleeing suspect, who little to the detectives knowledge has seen him shoot Hap.

Dormer is now relieved of one big problem, Haps pending testimony, but has gained others, namely guilt for what he's done and the necessity to subtly cover up any lose evidence of his crime. In one of his sleepless nights at the local hotel Dormer is called by the Connells killer, a reclusive mystery novelist named Walter Finch (played by Robin Williams who here is cast against type, and very effective because of it). Finch claims the murder was an accident and that he was simply mentoring the girl who was an aspiring writer, he also uses his witnessing of Haps murder, and a conversation he records of Dormer as leverage against him. While Dormer is thus compromised he is also being investigated by young local detective Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) in a pre-forma way as regards Haps death, but when things start not adding up she begins investigating further. Finch meanwhile is pushing Dormer to help him frame Kay's abusive boyfriend Randy Stetz (Jonathan Jackson)for the girls murder.

This is a pretty taught, character study of a murder mystery that does a good job of imparting its sense of disorientation. The setting is effective, the plot reasonably complex, the characters intriguing, and there are plenty or twists and turns both in the external action of the story and internally within the characters. Maura Tierney does some memorable work in a small part as the sympathetic manager of the hotel at which Dormer stays. Impressive stuff, a thriller that makes you feel smart, a Chris Nolan specialty. ***1/2