Summary
Christopher Nolanhas explored different genres in his career as a filmmaker, but there’s one genre he hasn’t covered yet – and one unmade movie could solve this and address a big criticism Nolan has faced for years. Christopher Nolan is one of the most respected and popular filmmakers of his generation, with his works getting praise from critics and general audiences. As such, there’s always anticipation (and speculation) around his next projects, but by now, viewers know exactly what to expect from Nolan’s movies.
Nolan often explores the concepts of time, memory, and personal identity in his works, and most of his movies include at least one twist that completely changes what the audience thought they knew up to that point. Nolan has also mixed genres, mostly sci-fi with drama, and his movies have a serious tone. Despite the success of Nolan’s works with critics and viewers, he hasn’t escaped criticism, one of the biggest ones being the lack of humor in his stories, but this could have been fixed years ago with his unmade action comedy.
The 10 Biggest Plot Twists In Christopher Nolan’s Movies, Ranked
Christopher Nolan is an outstanding director whose talent for creating twists is seen in many of his films, but only one can be crowned the best.
Jonathan & Christopher Nolan’s Unmade Action Comedy Explained
Christopher Nolan Could Have Made His First Comedy Years Ago
During a TV producers roundtable hosted byTHR, Jonathan Nolan shared that he and his brother, Christopher Nolan, were working on a script while the latter tried to sellMemento.Mementois based on a short story by Jonathan Nolan, and it’s told in a non-linear narrative, presented as two different sequences interspersed during the movie: one is in black-and-white and shown chronologically, and the other is in color and shown in reverse order, all this to illustrate the protagonist’s anterograde amnesia. Although it’s now regarded as one ofNolan’s best works, it’s easy to see whyMementostruggled to find a studio.
Memento Timeline & Ending Explained
Christopher Nolan explores the nature of memory in his mystery-thriller Memento. Here’s a breakdown of the movie’s timeline and what its ending means.
Jonathan Nolan shared that he couldn’t describe the project in case his brother ever wants to go back to it.
WhileMementowaited for a chance,Jonathan and Christopher Nolan started working on a script for an action comedyand spent six months on it. Jonathan Nolan calls it“the one that got away” but added that they may go back to it someday. In a separate talk on Dax Shephard’sArmchair Expertpodcast (viaThePlaylist), Jonathan Nolan shared that he couldn’t describe the project in case his brother ever wants to go back to it, and added that his brother’s public and private personas are very different and he’s a “goofball”, so it’s not that surprising that he came up with the idea for a comedy.
Christopher Nolan’s Movies Are Usually Criticized For Not Having Enough Humor
To Some, Nolan’s Movies Are Too Serious
The characters in Nolan’s movies are often morally ambiguous, emotionally disturbed, and forced to face their fears, anxieties, and more, not leaving much room for humor.
Christopher Nolan has a very peculiar filmmaking style that makes his movies instantly recognizable, favoring practical effects and real filming locations over CGI and studio work, shooting on film rather than digital, and covering complex, existential, and serious themes. Because of this and more,Nolan’s works tend to be a lot more serious than light or even comedicand lean a lot more on drama and suspense. The characters in Nolan’s movies are often morally ambiguous, emotionally disturbed, and forced to face their fears, anxieties, and more, not leaving much room for humor.
While all that and more about Nolan’s movies isn’t bad, nor do they take away from the quality and value of his work, many critics and viewers have found the lack of humor in his movies to be an issue. Although it’s not a requirement for every movie to have hints of humor to lessen or soften its core themes and overall tone, Nolan’s movies have been a common target of this specific criticism, even if they don’t need to add humor.
However, while these critiques are not wrong, as Nolan’s movies certainly don’t have much humor (though it’s justified for the above-mentioned reasons), they ignore that most of his movies do have some lighter and funnier moments, though in a very Nolan way.
Most Of Christopher Nolan’s Movies Are Actually Funny
Although None Of Them Are Comedies, They Have Subtle Comedic Moments
Nolan doesn’t add comedy to his works just for the sake of it.
So far in his career,Christopher Nolan hasn’t made a comedy film, but comedy hasn’t been absentin his works. Nolan’s approach to lighter and comedic moments in his movies has been more subtle, and they all have a reason to be within the story – simply put, Nolan doesn’t add comedy to his works just for the sake of it. Movies likeInception,Tenet, and his take on Batman intheDark Knighttrilogyhave subtle moments that can make anyone laugh, and Bale’s Batman, in particular, delivered many of those moments.
Jonathan Nolan sharing that he and his brother might revisit that action comedy script they worked on years ago gives some hope for it to happen at some point, but at the time of writing, it seems unlikely it will happen in the near future. Until then, the audience will continue to enjoy the subtle but clever and funny comedic moments inChristopher Nolan’s movies made in his unique narrative and visual style.
