"Following"

The great thing about "Following" is that you watch this and think, "yeah, I can make a movie that good." Then when you set out to do so you come to the realization that you can't. Some people have a gift at making films and it can be seen on even the smallest of scales. Now, in watching this movie you aren't blown away by how great it is, it doesn't have any sort of wow-factor to it, and there's not an overly grand sense of spectacle. But when combined with Christopher Nolan's sense of storytelling and the fact that it was made on a $6,000 budget, you can't help but at least respect the effort. With that said it sounds as if I'm saying you should just respect it for what it is and the effort put forth to create it, but I still really liked this movie. I may be biased toward Christopher Nolan because his sense of storytelling certainly fits into my "likes" category when it comes to movies, but even is his first budgeted film he abandons the linear model and of course handles it beautifully. I can understand that when someone watches this they maybe be confused as to why they're spending 69 minutes watching a group of unattractive British people in a story that's jumping all over the place, I felt like that at first, especially with the main character looking so different with his head and facial hair styles changing between the different time periods you're going back and forth between. But once you can get things straight (and I must admit I am a bit slow in this category so I'm sure anyone else will be fine), you have a great story that has all the flaws of a small budget movie trying to do the most it can without overstepping said budget. One thing I like about Christopher Nolan is that I always feel the emotional journey whilst watching his movies and you do get that feeling in "Following." It may not be to the same scale as his later movies, but you can't expect that. And the way he handles the relationship between The Young Man and Cobb certainly foreshadows his ability to handle ensemble dynamics and directing of actors, individually and in groups. All things considered, this is a great, small indie-film that was certainly worthy of getting Christopher Nolan a chance at making another film, which we should all be grateful for.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154506/