What I saw first was Insomnia. It was only the third movie to be directed and co-produced and co-written by a budding prodigy in filmmaking. His name: Christopher Nolan, having been known previously for his independent debut Following (1993) and then the underground hit Memento (2000). Both stylish and unique movies that only scratched the surface of this singular talent. So it seemed a bit curious as to why Nolan would have his next movie be a big-budget remake of a 1997 Erik Skjoldbjaerg low budget thriller based in Norway.
For those not familiar, the original movie starred Stellan Skarsgard as a police detective investigating the murder of a 17 year old girl in the Arctic region. Skarsgard's character, Jonas, has problems of his own; namely an inability to sleep which does not help being in the Arctic during the months of full daylight. Also during the height of the investigation , Jonas accidentally shoots his partner, Erik. Eventually things come to a head when the killer of the girl, played by Bjorn Floberg, begins calling Jonas and appearing at inopportune times with knowledge of the shooting of Erik. Now, the original movie was interesting in its own way. I vividly remember Siskel and Ebert giving it their two thumbs up; Roger Ebert even comparing the movie favorably with the great Fyodor Dosteyevsky novels. You can find this movie on DVD and Blu-Ray from the Criterion Collection.
So that was the original movie: what about the remake that Christopher Nolan helmed? Interestingly, it might be somewhat better than the original, upping the ante on the psychological situations and providing a multi-layer approach with many of the non lead characters. Some of the plot points are similar; only this time it is in Nightmute, Alaska during the months of the Midnight Sun. As well, Al Pacino plays Will Dormer, a detective with more problems going in to Alaska than initially surmised; namely being exiled from the LAPD after an IA investigation shows fabrication of evidence in the conviction of a child murderer.
Any time a fellow actor is in the same film as Al Pacino there is bound to be a sense that the actors and the audience are just waiting for some scenery chewing. Rest assured, there is what we expect from Pacino in at least two interrogation scenes. Yet, as we have come to expect from Christopher Nolan, the rest of the cast hold their own. When I saw Insomnia, I was rather impressed with Maura Tierney in one of her breakthrough roles; her character being the hotel manager that moved to Alaska for reasons unexplained. Martin Donovan did rather well in his brief appearance as Will Dormer's partner. Also, it was interesting to see Hilary Swank's character get more nuanced and greater screen time than in the original movie. Yet, by far, the film was elevated exponentially by Robin Williams.
Williams and his character, now named Walter Finch, does not appear until about 50 minutes in. Yet once you hear his voice saying to Will Dorner "Can't sleep, eh?", one of Williams' more creepier roles comes to life. Here is one such example when Finch explains why he killed the 17 year old.
It just gets more creepier from there onward. In a way, the action set pieces are among the most realistic in any Christopher Nolan film. And for those who want to know; yes, the ending is changed somewhat. However, I think it works quite well.
Now, getting back to my reasoning for this essay. I mentioned before that it seemed that 2002 showed us a more disturbing and unsettling public view of Robin Williams. It was not as if Mr. Williams had not shown it in previous roles. But for me, those more serious films like The World According To Garp, Moscow On The Hudson, Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Toys, Dead Again, Good Will Hunting, and even What Dreams May Come presented Robin Williams in more sympathetic traits for his characters. And even in his more serious roles, there was always a tinge of his unique humor that would show up if ever so briefly. It was as if Mr. Williams were saying to us "Look, I still have my laughter and manic style. This is only a role". Yet, I suppose when he reached 50, and probably taking a hint from his Oscar winning role in Good Will Hunting (1997) and a late breakthrough performance in What Dreams May Come (1998); perhaps Robin Williams wanted to go a different path.
It started innocuously enough with the dark comedy Death To Smoochie, a movie which I still have not seen. Admittedly, I was not interested in a story of a children's television star being a prick. None the less, it was Insomnia that I and perhaps others felt for the first time seeing a character Mr. Williams was playing: in this case Walter Finch, and finding it very hard to root for the guy. Admittedly, it is hard to root for many of the characters in this film. Perhaps Hilary Swank and Martin Donovan play characters we can relate to. Not so with others. I suppose it makes sense that in this version; Al Pacino's Will Dorner eventually does not deny a reason to shoot the Martin Donovan character early on. Not to mention, Dorner is cured of his insomnia, so to speak, by dying in the chase and gunfight towards the end. A bit tailor made for Hollywood; yet the essence of the ending in the Stellan Skarsgard version remains.
Insomnia was a breakthrough film in so many different ways. It was Christopher Nolan alongside long time collaborators like DP Wally Pfister, screenwriting brother Jonathan Nolan, and producer and wife Anna Thomas that proved to be making highly acclaimed and financially rewarding pictures. A bit afterwards, Nolan and Thomas' company Syncopy secured a development deal with Warner Bros; where their films have been financed or co-produced ever since. Hilary Swank got to appear in her first financially successful movie. Maura Tierney, Nicky Katt and Martin Donovan were able to successfully become involved in leading roles for movies and TV shows down the line. And you know something; Al Pacino did not need to go over the top and chew the scenery that much in this film.
More notably, for a time, Robin Williams starting with Insomnia began to appear in a series of movies and even a Broadway show that had him become the disturbed and yet soft spoken guy who we in the audience are both shocked and intrigued by. By all rights, this movie and One Hour Photo which was released in August 2002 should have been the game changer for Mr. Williams. It really should have been the movies that would have been for Mr. Williams what, for instance, Schindler's List meant for Steven Spielberg: the point of maturity and demarcation in which there was no going back to the old ways. I believe Robin Williams could have been nominated for an Academy Award for either of those two movies; a Best Supporting Actor nod with Insomnia might have made the ensuing race a heck of a lot more interesting. Alas, that renaissance did not last long. Maybe it was for the best. Yet maybe, if the trajectory in Robin Williams' film roles were of the more dramatic sort, what transpired in his last years on this earth might not have happened.
Just as Robin Williams was at his A game with his Summer 2002 movie slate; so too was he back in action and better than many of his peers when it came to his stand up comedy tour. It culminated in late July with his remarkable HBO special, Live On Broadway. That will be discussed next as we look back at That One Summer.
Happy 4th of July everyone!,
Robert
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