While trying to avoid negative reviews, Christopher Nolan recalls finding his film criticized by his workout instructor. Nolan is the auteur director behind several mind-bending, high-concept films including Memento, Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet. Last year, Nolan stepped into the director’s seat again to direct well-received Oppenheimer.
Speaking at a ceremony at New York City’s Tao Downtown (attended by Variety), Nolan recalls the unusual way in which he received criticism for one of his films. The director first discussed his effort to avoid reading reviews, which is encouraged by comments from his family like “You probably shouldn’t open The Guardian today.” For one of his films, whose identity he left obscured, Nolan found himself in the middle of criticism while taking a Peloton class. The instructor, who may not have known that Nolan was in the room, asked if the class had seen one of Nolan’s films “Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!.” Check out the full story from Nolan below:
Directors have a complex emotional relationship with critics and criticism. A question we’re always asked is: Do we read reviews? Let’s start with the fact that I’m British. A typical family gathering will involve relatives saying to me, ‘You know, Christopher. You probably shouldn’t open The Guardian today.’
I was on my Peloton. I’m dying. And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!.’ When [film critic] Rex Reed takes a sh*t on your film he doesn’t ask you to work out! In today’s world, where opinions are everywhere, there is a sort of idea that film criticism is being democratized, but I for one think the critical appreciation of films shouldn’t be an instinct but it should be a profession.
Christopher Nolan’s Reviews Have Been Mostly Positive (With Some Exceptions)
Despite this story regarding Nolan’s criticism, the director has had a prolific career filled with mostly positive reviews. Oppenheimer was considered his magnum opus by many, but the director has also been praised for his work on films such as Inception, Dunkirk, and the beloved The Dark Knight trilogy. Two of his films, Inception and Dunkirk, have been nominated for Best Picture, with Dunkirk also being nominated for Best Director. Oppenheimer is considered a frontrunner to be nominated and potentially win Best Picture, with a Best Director nomination for Nolan also considered likely.
Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked By How Out Of Order The Story Is
Time is often a character itself in Christopher Nolan’s movies, from Following to Oppenheimer, with the story rarely being present chronologically.
While Nolan’s track record certainly trends positive, the director’s reviews have not gone unblemished. Nolan’s 2020 feature Tenet was a box office flop and was widely considered one of Nolan’s weakest entries in his filmography. Even films like Interstellar, which received overall positive reviews, have some detractors, who believe that Nolan vies for spectacle over depth in his content.
With Oppenheimer, however, Nolan exerted full authorial control that can hopefully be mirrored in his next work. Oppenheimer tells a biopic-like story, but fully resists becoming a typical biopic with its unusual pacing, structure, and visual cutaways. It seems that Nolan has gotten his groove back, and can hopefully avoid being criticized in a future workout class.
