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'''Insomnia''' is a 2002 American remake of a 1997 Norwegian film about a police officer investigating a murder above the Arctic Circle and suffering insomnia due to the midnight sun and his guilt over past and present misdeeds. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan and starred Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.

Contents

Plot

Adaptation

Reception

Box office

External links

Plot

The story takes place in the small fishing town of Nightmute, Alaska, where a local 17-year-old girl is found murdered. Two LAPD detectives, Will Dormer (Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are sent up to assist the local police with their investigation while an intense Internal Affairs investigation back in Los Angeles is about to put Dormer under the microscope.
Dormer is in fact guilty having planted false evidence against suspects. He has only done so in cases where he was certain they were guilty, but he just did not have enough legitimate, legally admissible evidence to gain a conviction in a court of law. Nonetheless, his actions were, of course, illegal and unethical, and the Internal Affairs investigator in charge is eager to advance his own career by taking Dormer down. If found guilty of planting the false evidence, several of Dormer's convictions could be overturned, and Dormer does not want his life's work destroyed nor does he want these criminals back on the streets because of technicalities. It doesn't help that Dormer is backstabbed by his partner, as Eckhart reveals that he was offered an immunity deal in exchange for promising to provide testimony that will certainly prove crucial to Internal Affairs. Dormer tries to talk Eckhart out of it, but Eckhart, apparently complicit to some degree in Dormer's misdeeds, says that ultimately he must look out for himself and his family as well as his own livelihood first, so he feels he has no choice but to accept the deal.
During a botched stakeout of the murder suspect, Dormer accidentally shoots and kills Eckhart during a pursuit in a heavy fog. (When Dormer realizes what he's done and tries to help, Eckhart turns away in horror, believing that he was shot by Dormer as revenge for making a deal with Internal Affairs.) As none of the other officers witnessed Eckhart's shooting, it is initially assumed that the fleeing murder suspect was the one who shot him.

Given the circumstances of Eckhart's impending testimony, Dormer knows that if it is discovered that he was the one who fired the fatal shot, he will immediately be suspected of having done so intentionally. Thus, Dormer faces the dilemma of trying to bring the murder suspect to justice while at the same time cover up the truth about Eckhart's shooting and preserve the misconception that the murder suspect was responsible for that as well. Ellie Burr (Swank), a young and eager police officer, is put in charge of the investigation into Eckhart's shooting. Furthermore, she is a longtime admirer and student of Dormer's work.
Throughout the film, Dormer becomes more and more unhinged, partly because of feelings of guilt over shooting his partner and anxiety about the risk of being found out, partly because of insomnia brought on by the perpetual daylight of the Alaskan summer. Adding to his delirium are the phone calls he receives from Walter Finch (Williams), the girl's killer, a soft spoken writer who lives in isolation and who saw Dormer shoot Eckhart and knows about his attempt to cover it up. Finch is a wily, intelligent writer of mystery stories who not only wants to steer the police away from his own guilt but also seems to enjoy manipulating events in much the same way events might be manipulated in the plot of one of his novels.
After a long pursuit, Dormer eventually corners Finch. He offers Dormer a deal, where they would frame the girl's abusive boyfriend (a suspect of questionable character who was already maligned by much of the town and especially Finch, though ''not'' the murderer). This would also cover the problem of Eckhart's shooting and likely hurt the Internal Affairs investigation, keeping Dormer's convictions locked up.
Dormer agrees to this at first and the boyfriend is arrested. However, Burr finds some inconsistency with the evidence against the boyfriend as well as Eckhart's shooting, while Dormer is having his own doubts about smearing an innocent though deviant person.

Burr also discovers that Finch is the killer of Kay Connell; but while questioning him at his cabin is knocked unconscious. Dormer races to the retreat to save Burr. It is clear that his concentration is nearly gone due to his lack of sleep. A brief fight ensues between Dormer and Finch, before the latter escapes to his shed. Burr confronts Dormer about evidence that points to him being Eckhart's shooter.
Dormer then breaks down, confessing that he accidentally shot Eckhart but started feeling guilt after seeing the fearful look on Eckhart's face as he died. Realizing that he has been fingered as the real murderer, Finch fires upon both of them with his shotgun. While Burr and Finch trade gunshots, Dormer sneaks around to Finch's location. In a twist of irony, Finch (fatally) hits Dormer first with the latter's original weapon (which was taken from Dormer to investigate Eckhart's death), but Dormer quickly picks up the shotgun and blasts Finch at point blank in the stomach. A stunned Finch dies and tumbles into the water.
Burr rushes to the detective's aid. She comforts Dormer by affirming that Eckhart's shooting was accidental, and tries to toss the evidence found from the scene. But Dormer stops Burr, telling her not to lose her way. "Let me sleep," he asks, weakly, before finally getting his rest.

Adaptation

Although the remake echoes much of the substance of the original, it also significantly alters both the plot and the nature of the protagonist; Pacino's character is more sympathetic and more capable of redemption than Skarsgård's.

Reception

Critics' reviews were generally positive, with a "fresh" rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office

Total U.S. box office gross: $67,355,513

External links

★

★ Peter Cowie essay on the original at criterion.com

★ The Movie Spoiler