Christopher Nolan, with his foray into the DC world of Batman and the dream world of Inception, has become a top notch, internationally known name, joining the ranks of Spielberg, Lucas, Burton and others who have imprinted their distinct style on film audiences.
However, before Batman, before Inception, there were other films--Following, his student film, Memento, co-written with his brother, The Prestige, a really well done movie about not just magic but narrative disruption, and Insomnia, perhaps one of his most unsuccessful films.
Is there anything distinctively Nolan about it?
Not really, and that may be the issue here. All of the other films have been written or co-written by Nolan. This film was written by someone else and an remake of a French film. So in this case Nolan is just a director for hire. The mind twists of his other pieces are missing here. However, visually you can see some of Nolan's influence, especially in regard to the editing of the film as Al Pacino's character begins to fall more and more into a state of insomniac craziness. Images flit before his eyes, light plays tricks, morals come into question.
Some clips to help you out>
The first one is probably the coolest cinematic aspect of the film as a bust goes wrong and all of a sudden fog descends on the cops who are seeking the bad guy.
The second clip has the bad guy call the cop. Yes, we have seen this before. In many movies. It still works, kind of. The issue--well, see if you can identify who is talking to him on the phone.
If you are a Christopher Nolan fan, then definitely give it a watch so you have the whole canon of his work. However, enter the film realizing this is a Nolan who is still developing as a filmmaker.
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