Insomnia

Saw Insomnia, the 2002 film which is apparently a remake of a Norwegian film.  It was about a detective dispatched to Alaska to help solve a murder.  He's under a cloud of investigation himself however and soon the murderer discovers this and starts playing a cat and mouse game with him, blackmailing and taunting him.  On top of all of this, it's the time of year in Alaska where the sun never sets, so he can't even sleep.  Many sequences where a gaunt-faced Pacino gazes at a clock.

The film was good.  It was a sort of police procedural, so there's a nice sense of progression as they crack the case wider and wider.  There's a hunted, ragged feeling about the film as well however.  The locals are not happy about the big-city cops coming to solve their crimes and follow the killer's faked clues like guileless kittens.

I saw this film some time ago, so I don't remember a ton about it.  As is typical, the original is much darker than the remake, but this film is plenty bleak and dark.  My imagination of Alaska is of beautiful, untamed wilderness.  This film deals with the reality of living there: the tiny small town vibe, the poverty, the mist and fog and ice and glaring sunlight.  It's an interesting mixture of the hostile wilds and the hard-bitten cop.