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Created Jan 05, 2011 07:14AM PST • Edited Aug 11, 2014 06:56PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   The great Christopher Nolan directs Al Pacino and an oh-so-serious Robin Williams in an icy thriller. For fans of taut detective dramas, it’s all good.

   A clever cat-and-mouse tale, Insomnia triggers the mind altering condition of its title via Alaska’s summertime sun – all day n’ all night of it. Beyond that, it’s your basic hardass No Shit Sherlock stuff, as we jaded moderns expect.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Pacino can play roles like this in his sleep and be great. Oh wait, his character suffers from insomnia, so no sleep here. Even better.

   Robin Williams plays bad well. Who knew.

   Hilary Swank plays a tomboyish eager-beaver better than most actresses.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Good 3.0

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    Few directors have the plot panache of Christopher Nolan, even if this fairly straightforward cat-and-mouse thriller isn’t nearly as complex as Memento or Inception.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Very Good 3.5

    Cheers to the Nordic writers for adapting their Norwegian original into this star studded Hollywood classic.

13. Music Really Great 4.5

    Great use of amplified sounds to highlight the altered sensibility caused by insomnia.

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.2

    A teen girl gets beaten to death, another comes on to an older man, and oh yeah, a few people get shot.

17. Sex Titillating 1.7

18. Violence Fierce 2.0

19. Rudeness Profane 2.8

21. Reality

    Glib 1.7

22. Circumstantial Glib 2.0

23. Biological Glib 2.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0