Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Stephen Toblowsky
Have I Seen it Before: Yes, but it’s been years. My DVD case has a crack in it, and it’s entirely possible I’ve gone most of fifteen years without noticing it.
Did I Like It: Which was an integral part of the charm. The film’s plot is so carefully constructed, that unless you know the film backwards (and, I suppose, forwards), there are pleasures and surprises aplenty to rediscover. I’m sitting there vaguely remembering that both Natalie (Moss) and Teddy (Pantoliano) are not who they appear, but just how it all comes together remained beyond my memory until the very end. A movie built on surprises that holds up on multiple viewings is truly a thing to behold.
It almost makes me regret the success Nolan has enjoyed since this film. After Batman Begins (2005) he quickly became the world’s greatest purveyor of the now ubiquitous “trailer noise”*. I’ve enjoyed most of his work post-The Dark Knight (2008), but I can’t help but lament the smaller, deceptively simple work he could have produced had Warner Bros. not let him do whatever his wildest dreams would allow.
It’s sort of a strange miracle that the film hasn’t become more influential, aside from introducing the idea that if Hollywood could halt its search for a filmmaker who could make a Batman movie which would be an actual detective story. A TV show with this idea could have worked, and been ever-green. I’m shocked it hasn’t become a procedural which somehow had been running on CBS for fifteen years without me noticing. A quick glance at the film’s Wikipedia page insists that a remake is in the works, which, why? Can we remake films which were released after Y2K? It’s seems like a crime.
Maybe if my memory takes a hit, it would be a good idea. Otherwise, I’ll pass.