Continuity mistake: When Dormer and Finch meet up after the interrogation, Dormer slams Fince against a metal support beam and the position of his hands of Finch change from being pressed against Finch's left cheek to being pressed against his neck/shoulder area as the camera angle changes. Happens about 3 times during scene.
Insomnia (2002)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Robin Williams, Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan, Oliver 'Ole' Zemen
Walter Finch (Robin Williams) is revealed to be the girl's murderer. Ellie (Hilary Swank) figures this out from looking in one of Walter's books that Ellie had, and finding his autograph inside. She also finds the shell casing from the shot that killed Hap and puts everything together. Ellie goes to Walter's cabin to look for him, but she is met by a hail of gunfire. Will (Al Pacino) reveals to Rachel (Maura Tierney) that he was guilty of falsifying evidence by planting a drop of blood, and this was part of his guilty conscience. Still suffering the effects of sleep deprivation, he finds out Ellie went to the cabin, and drives after her. He hallucinates almost crashing into an imaginary truck. When he gets there, he tells Ellie to give him covering fire so he can get inside the cabin. Dodging a hail of gunfire, Will slips under the cabin and rushes inside. "You forgot the wild card, Will" says Walter, before shooting Will with a pistol. Will recoils from the shot and fires a shotgun blast, killing Walter and knocking him into the water, where he slowly sinks. Will, gravely injured, goes outside and lies down on the dock, confessing to Ellie that he shot his partner but he's not sure if it's an accident or on purpose any more. She takes out the shell casing that would incriminate him, and she tries to throw it into the lake. He grabs her arm and stops her. "Don't lose your way," says Will. He closes his eyes. "Let me sleep." Ellie calls for an ambulance, but it's already too late. Will Dormer dies lying on the dock, finally at rest.
Milly x
More mistakes in Insomnia
Ellie Burr: A good cop can't sleep because he's missing a piece of the puzzle. And a bad cop can't sleep because his conscience won't let him.
Trivia: Not a mistake, just something nice to notice: "Dormer" sounds like "dormeur" that is to say the French for "sleeper".
Question: At the end, Maura Tierney is lying on Al Pacino's bed, having a nap/sleep. Are we then to presume they had sex before Pacino went to the airport to catch his plane back to LA?
Chosen answer: Since no answer is given in the film, the audience must make their own assumptions.
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Answer: OMG, even my 7-year old daughter realised that the scene was made for the exact opposite reason. Dormer and Tierney talked "all night" and Tierney was sleepy. Dormer and Tierney had a genuine (if short-lived) friendship. Her sleeping on his bed only referred to their trust in one another. His bed had no metaphorical meaning. In fact, it was Ellie who developed a strong crush on Dormer. A crush that interfered with her objectivity as a policewoman.