Remakes are a tricky proposition, because inevitably they are compared to the originals -- originals, which, if worthy of being remade, are typically classics of their genre.

Insomnia seeks to fill the shoes of a Norwegian film of the same name, which stars Stellan Skarsgård as an arrogant cop out to catch a killer in the unending daylight of the far North. It’s a smart film with a well-told story, and arguably, is good enough on its own that it didn’t need remaking. But Hollywood is never content to let things lie as they are, as it is its nature to capitalize on any potentially winning formula and translate it for the benefit of American audiences. Numerous examples of such foreign-to-American remakes, both good and bad, dot recent film history; La Femme Nikita, for example, was recreated as the dismal Point of No Return, proving that it’s not always a good idea to fix what ain’t broken. Yet this new version of Insomnia is helmed by Memento director Christopher Nolan, and he acquits itself admirably.

Al Pacino plays world-weary cop Will Dormer (like the Spanish dormir, to sleep) who’s sent with his partner, Hap (Martin Donovan), to the small Alaskan town of Nightmute to help the local police solve a murder. Dormer finds himself at odds with Hap, who reveals his willingness to cut a deal with LAPD’s internal affairs division, currently in the midst of culling corrupt cops from their roster -- and Dormer is on their list. When Hap ends up dead during the pursuit of killer Walter Finch (Robin Williams in a well-crafted role), Dormer finds that he has more in common with Finch than he’d like to admit. Their cat-and-mouse game escalates from blackmail to betrayal, and threatens to draw other victims into its vortex.

Like all classic films noir, this one begins when one moral slip on the part of the hero leads to ever greater failings, until he must paddle ever more furiously to keep his head above water. Though his drowning is inevitable, our fascination stems not from his downfall but its method.

Nolan’s deft touch in this genre is plainly evident in every frame, as he weaves a taught web of move and countermove between intelligent opponents. Dormer’s world gradually collapses in upon itself as he loses ever more sleep over successive days, which brings him to the brink of mental breakdown. Pacino masterfully navigates this potentially treacherous territory, layering exhaustion upon moral implosion to build the perfect model of a man at war with himself.

Nolan creates a world in which day is paradoxically darker than night, and the story’s moral ambiguity is mirrored by a perpetual twilight that hangs above the town like an impending Götterdämmerung. The film’s cinematography, from director of photography Wally Pfister (Memento), is crisp and icy, adding a tangible chill to the remote town’s rarefied atmosphere.

Pacino plays a more sympathetic version of Dormer than Skarsgård, who is a coldhearted bastard from the outset. Pacino’s warmth and genuine human failing give the story new life and new immediacy, as well as a tight rewrite by new screenwriter Hillary Seitz. The result is that while the original is an excellent film in its own right, the remake is more accessible, and not merely because of its lack of subtitles. Other solid performances round out a great cast, notably a sharp Hillary Swank as the eager young cop who has assiduously studied all of Dormer’s cases, and must confront the ugly truth about her hero.

Insomnia delivers, and proves that Christopher Nolan, over the course of only three feature films (including his award-winning first, Following) has become a creative giant in the neo-noir genre.