Insomnia (1997) [Film Review]

I had three good reasons to watch this film.
1. Christopher Nolan, my ex-favorite filmmaker did a remake of it.
2. Roger Ebert gave it a great review
3. It got a Criterion release.

So, the hype around this film was pretty good. But did it really reach my hopes for it? Not really. Often originals are better than the remake, but that's not the case here. Despite the fact that Insomnia is my least favorite of Nolan's films, this still isn't as good as Nolan's version.

Still, it is good. It has a lot of great themes, and despite the fact that I knew the basic storyline from Nolan's film it still managed to be captivating at times, and for some reason I gasped when the main character turns over that body...

The performances are excellent for the most part. I mean really, Stellan Skarsgard is incredible. Granted we don't explore his character near as much as we do his counterpart in Nolan's film, but it's decent competition. Pacino vs. Skarsgard comes out as a tie.

The cinematography is superb, really. That was likely one of the best parts of the film, and of course the pivotal scene, the one that pretty much the plot of both is built on had to be shot well and it was. The climax of this film, though, was hardly a climax, and instead it really just dies down slowly, therefore not nearing the incredible ending to Nolan's film.

I apologize for so much of this review comparing this film to Nolan's remake, but that's most of what I have to talk about. I will say that this was good, and had some great cinematography and acting, and the fact that this was where the idea originated does gain the film a lot of respect. But Nolan manages to eclipse the original.