4 out of 5

Director: Christopher Nolan

Themes which echo in Christopher Nolans subsequent films are very apparent in Following, a noir story of an uninspired writer who takes to shadowing random people in order to find out more about their everyday existences. Trouble brews when he begins to select people out of interest as opposed to randomly, and things get more dire when he starts to see some things he probably shouldnt have. While the easy comparison to Memento is in the rearrangement of timing in the movie, its not the core of the film (or theme) as it was in Memento. Instead the focus is on the nature of obsession, and distraction, themes that certainly show up in all of Nolans films. Following is shot and acted expertly, but also has the feel of an early movie, in that everything is stripped down purely to its essence. This is neither good or bad, and is what is needed in these types of films to keep it moving, but it also causes it to lack the level of viewer involvement that Memento included with some character development. Following, then, is more of a snapshot of everything that Mr. Nolan would perfect in the movies he would come to make, and manages to be an incredibly compelling, if simple, 70 minute film as well.