Definitively doesn't feel like a Nolan movie. Not only was it a remake, but it's the only movie of his not written by him. It's pretty straight forward and conventional...for the most part, but there is one thing that really sticks out.
Due to their location in Alaska, it's daytime 24/7..throughout the entire film. Even while watching movies, we use daylight and night time as a way to measure the time that's passing. Insomnia takes that resource away from us. Also there
appears to be no huge leaps in time. In any regular movie, scene A can be taking place at 7PM, then when it ends...scene B can blatantly start at 10AM the next morning. Insomnia does this very discreetly, and adding to the effect is the fact that the main character never sleeps or gets rest. So by the end of the film, maybe a week has passed but it manages to just feel like one long day. This creates a weird time warp between us and the main character, he's losing his mind due to the fact that he hasn't slept in days, yet to us it feels like night time has never even come yet. It's kind of a weird feeling when you step back and think about it after the movie is done.
I hope that paragraph makes sense
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In terms of comparisons to other movies. I really got a "Strangers on a Train" vibe from this. It's written all over the way the good and bad guy interact with each other.
Insomnia started off really fast and good, but I feel like the end was kinda dragged out too long. Was beginning to lose interest in what happened. I think the constant daylight adds a unique feel to it, but the story isn't anything special.
Nolan ranking:
1. Memento
2. Insomnia
3. Following