Will and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) have a long history of solving murders for the L.A.P.D., but when the Internal Affairs Department causes a lot of ruckus, their boss sees the trip up North as a good way to keep some heat off of his best detective, Dormer. Unfortunately, the heat doesn't stay in L.A., especially when Dormer accidentally shoots and kills his partner while in pursuit of their suspect. This wouldn't be so suspicious looking if I.A. wasn't aware that Eckart was planning on talking to the department.
Now, Dorman not only has to worry about tracking down the man who beat a 17 year-old girl to death, or his increasing bout of insomnia, but it turns out the killer, played by Robin Williams, saw it happen and has started calling Dormer in all manners of the night (day) to try and bond with the cop.
Not only does Pacino do a spectacular job playing the straight cop who is tortured by his conscience and questions his motivations in the supposedly accidental murder of his partner, but the dreary-eyed and mentally unstable nature of his character becomes all the more apparent as he goes day after day without sleep. Williams also ups the stakes of the film. While he doesn't make a physical appearance until half-way through the film, his distinct voice over the phone is enough to make his presence and role known. Insomnia is Williams' third film in a row where he played a demented, slightly-off bad guy. The previous two being One Hour Photo (another truly creepy tale) and Death To Smoochy.
Also taking a main role in Insomnia is Hillary Swank, a fairly-fresh cop on the Nightmute, Alaskan force who admires Dormer to no end, and ends up taking charge over the investigation of Eckhart's death. When she starts finding inconsistencies in Dormer's side of the story, she starts to question her duty as a cop, and the desire to see what she believes to be a good detective continue fighting the good fight.
Insomnia's Blu-ray transfer is spectacular. Not only is the surround sound excellent, but the breathtaking vistas of British Columbia (which was used for filming the Alaskan town) combined with the over-saturated filming technique to help you feel Dormer's pain really stands out on the high-definition media.
Insmonia comes with four featurettes, though none of the special features appear to be new to the Blu-ray release. "180°" is an unscripted conversation between Pacino and Director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento and most recently, Inception) about the filming process, while "Day for Night" talks about Nolan's and other cast and crew member's work at adapting the 1997 Erik Skjoldbjærg film to an American production as well as how Pacino and Williams got into the mindsets of their characters. "In the Fog" has the Director of Photography, Wally Pfister, and Production Designer, Nathan Crowley, talking about very specific scenes from the film, while "Eyes Wide Open" is a series of interviews with insomniacs as well as medical interviews about the disease and its effects on the mind.
Insomnia is an excellent psychological thriller and suspense-filled movie that will keep you on your toes right up to the end. While I think the film is a must have, not everyone will find it quite as appealing as I do, but it is worth seeing, and seeing it in HD is just outstanding.
