Delayed Reaction: Following

The Pitch: How to make a thriller with no money.

It was only a matter of time before I got to this. It is the only Christopher Nolan movie I hadn't seen. It's really hard to see everything an actor has done, even if you exclude TV work, because most actors build up a body of work with bad parts or fill in gaps in their schedule with small parts in tiny movies. So, even if I go out of my way to see Anna Kendrick in Camp and Elsewhere, there's still The Company You Keep and The Marc Pease Experience to find. With directors, it's pretty easy. It's hard to churn one out in less than a year or two. Without trying I can accidentally almost all of an Edward Zwick's work, for example*. Since I already took care of Insomnia a while ago, that just left Nolan's debut feature - the super-independent Following - to complete the list.

*Seriously, I saw 2/3s of his movies before ever learning his name. Now, I'm tempted to see About Last Night..., Leaving Normal, Blood Diamond, and Pawn Sacrifice for the hell of it.

It's a fine movie. The lo-fi aesthetic naturally reminded me of Primer and Clerks. The story gives a clear creative through line to Memento. The actors are limited, which is probably why none of them have become the Bruce Campbell to Nolan's Sam Rami, showing up in all his movies. The structure is interesting and the twists are pretty fun. Nolan's direction is really the star, which makes sense. It's short too. I like that.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend