Just got back from a pre-screening of Christopher 'Memento' Nolan's Insomnia. Nice performances, Mark Snow-ish background music, good use of Alaska, especially in adapting the original... reminded me of The Pledge, which had a nice poignant little twist at the end. Don't expect something as exciting as Memento here. This is finals week at college and it seems like delicious irony to screen a movie where the lead player has insomnia ... Some of the dialogue and content even had a nasty ring in the context of the cheating scandal that rocked the Georgia Tech campus recently ('the end justifies the means' and the ... well watch the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about).

The original Norwegian film seems to have had much greyer shades for the character mapped to Al Pacino for the American version. This makes me wonder. What were they afraid of ? In retrospect, Will Dormer's tainted character seemed to suffer from the feelgood gloss of American cinema, making him more likeable and sympathetic than the situation would demand ... We almost cheer for Dormer, but I don't think we are supposed to. Pacino's diabolical looks and careful characterization help bring out the anxiety and sleeplessness of Will Dormer, but we are not taken all the way with his predicament. The interplay between Finch and Dormer is great, with some nice dialogue that crackles with the calibre of the artistes delivering them, but Insomnia ultimately ends up as barren and cold as Nightmute itself...