Editor Reviews:

Description:
An unemployed aspiring "writer" Bill (Jeremy Theobald) has a peculiar hobby, shadowing strangers at random in the streets of London. When Cobb (Alex Haw), a man Bill has been following, catches him in the act, Bill is drawn into Cobb's world of breaking into flats and prying into the personal lives of their victims. In Bob, Bill finds a strange companion - part mentor, part confessor and part evil twin. With an ingenious structure that involves flash forwards and doubling back, the film tests our knowledge and understanding just as the protagonist is being duped into an elaborate triple-cross. "Following" heralded Christopher Nolan as a promising new talent whose promise was amply confirmed with "Memento."

Amazon.com:
Creepy intimacy, plenty of suspense, and a few surprises enliven this black-and-white treat from the director of Memento. Bill is a struggling writer who fills his time and mind by following random strangers he sees on the street. After breaking his own rule ("never follow the same person twice") he becomes fascinated by Cobb, a voyeur who takes things one step further--actually breaking into people's homes to sift through their things. As you might expect, the relationship soon becomes unhealthy. Writer-director Christopher Nolan already reveals a sure hand in this early neo-noir work. Like Memento, Following toys with timelines, jumping back and forth and carefully dropping bits of information exactly when they're needed. Short and sharp, Following features an intriguing plot line and fine, understated performances by the entire cast. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis

Rating : - Better than most of Nolan's later films
Almost a decade ago, I broke into a home. This was no difficult task, as the woman who resided there never locked her door. While there, I took something back that this woman's son had stolen from me, left something else that he deserved and was very careful to leave no other trace of my activities. Years later, I still remember that curious thrill: the novelty of my planned procedure, an adrenaline rush that was hardly unpleasant and the satisfaction of a task capably completed.

Christopher Nolan's first feature film invokes all of the feelings triggered by the entire experience of a successful burglary: excitement, anxiety, and a touch of fear. However, the act of a burglary is only a means to an end for both the filmmaker and his characters. Even the themes explored here (voyeurism, intrusion) seem incidental, almost peripheral to the story's ultimate objective. An unemployed writer who shadows people to ease his boredom (Theobald) is taken in by a professional thief (Haw) who teaches him the methods of his trade. Much of what's initially presented to both the protagonist and the audience is illusory; if the phrase "nothing is as it seems" is as cliché to you as it is to me, rest assured that an extensive synopsis pertaining to this film's plot in the context of a simple review would spoil the experience that it leads the viewer through.

Like most of Nolan's movies, "Following" is densely plotted and dedicatedly non-linear, featuring obsessive, selfish characters whose motives seem entirely apparent, both before and after they're actually revealed. Theobald and Russell are entirely convincing, but Haw is the real star of the movie: his forceful, prickish performance dominates every scene in which he's featured. I don't know why an actor with such enormous screen presence hasn't any other roles to his credit, but it seems a shame; even if he were typecast in this sort of role, Mr. Haw might well be a gifted character actor.

This is actually much better than "Memento:" the plot isn't so uniformly organized, the characters are more complex and the story's surprises are more clever and subtly revealed. As with Nolan's other films, a second viewing allows one to notice more of the story's nuances, but isn't necessary for a basic comprehension of its plot.