Ranking Nolan

8. Following (1998)

Everyone has to start somewhere. Some of you have probably never heard of this one. This was Nolan’s first feature film, made for absolute peanuts. There are no recognizable names, it feels like a glorified documentary, and it’s especially weird to look back at now considering how much money gets put into his current films. For a Christopher Nolan story, it’s fairly simple. A loner/struggling writer (Jeremy Theobald) decides to randomly follow people for no apparent reason. He just likes it. Long story short, he ends up following the wrong guy, a very shady burglar played by Alex Haw who’s character name is ironically Cobb (Inception anyone?). It’s fascinating to follow, but fairly slow at times. It’s a solid first effort considering the constraints, but when you watch it, you can clearly see Nolan’s early potential. Nolan’s style was ingrained very early on. Its also got a very cool, simple score. If this is your worst film, that’s really saying something. Check this one out – it’s on Netflix Instant watch.

Spoiler Alert: One of the apartments that the young man and Cobb break into has a Batman symbol right on the door – now that’s freaky.

http://youtu.be/5q8bBAKNSA8

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