The Movie Christopher Nolan Thinks Is His "Most Underrated"

Christopher Nolan’s choice for the most underrated of his films is an interesting one, as the title he picks is something of an outlier in his career. The Oscar-winning Oppenheimer director revealed his intriguing pick for his own most underrated movie in the 2020 book The Nolan Variations by Tom Shone.

Nolan could have picked The Prestige as his most under-loved movie. Often cited as an underrated work, the mind-bending thriller came out between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and was overshadowed by those two massive hits.

He could also have chosen the time-warping action movie Tenet, which took a hit at the box office thanks to COVID. Or he could’ve tapped his 2000 cult classic mystery-thriller Memento.

But when Nolan told Shone his pick for his most underrated movie, he surprisingly named 2002’s Insomnia (via World of Reel):

I’m very proud of the film. I think, of all my films, it’s probably the most underrated.

The reality is it’s one of my most personal films in terms of what it was to make it. It was a very vivid time in my life. It was my first studio film, I was on location, it was the first time I’d worked with huge movie stars.

That’s not really for me to say, but every now and again I meet a filmmaker and that’s actually the film that they’re interested in or want to talk about. Yeah, very proud of the film.

Insomnia Is The Only Christopher Nolan Movie Not Written By Christopher Nolan

It Was Penned By Hillary Seitz, Officially

In the 28 years since Nolan released his first movie, Insomnia is the only one for which he has not received an on-screen writing credit. This is somewhat deceiving, however, as Nolan did do rewrites to Hillary Seitz’s script, at the behest of star Al Pacino.

It’s not at all unusual for a star to demand rewrites after signing on for a movie. It’s hard to ascertain just how much of the final Insomnia script was the result of Nolan appeasing Pacino. But it’s perhaps significant that Nolan has said he chose not to seek a writing credit alongside Seitz.

Jonathan Demme was originally set to direct Insomnia, with Harrison Ford to star.

Nolan has shared writing credit on a handful of films. Batman Begins sees him listed as co-writer with David S. Goyer. He also shared writing credit with his brother Jonathan Nolan on his other two Batman films, plus Interstellar. Nolan’s 28-year streak of getting writing credit on (almost) all of his movies will continue with his upcoming epic The Odyssey.

Can Insomnia Be Considered A “True” Christopher Nolan Movie?

There Were Several Cooks In The Kitchen

Insomnia might at first glance seem like the least Nolan of all Nolan’s films. It’s a remake of a Norwegian movie, with a script not credited to its director. Furthermore, it was made at a time in Nolan’s career when he only had two movies under his belt, and was nowhere near as powerful as he would later become.

The power balance on Insomnia is revealed through Nolan’s admission that he did rewrites for Pacino. Warner Bros. would almost certainly have sided with the star, had there been any hesitancy on Nolan’s part to rework the script for him.

Pacino having enough input to get the script rewritten makes Insomnia look like even less of a true Nolan movie. However, Nolan did execute those changes himself, and it’s hard to say how much creative negotiation went on between him and Pacino.

Robin Williams and Al Pacino in Insomnia

22 Years On, I Want Chris Nolan To Make More Movies Like The One He Says Is His Most Underrated

Every new Christopher Nolan movie feels like its very own event, but I would like to see more similar to what Nolan views as his most underrated.

That Nolan did not write the initial script himself is also somewhat deceiving. Seitz did originally pen the screenplay before Nolan was brought on, but followed his instructions on changes. Even without a writing credit, Nolan clearly had a lot of input during the writing stages.

Despite being a remake written by someone else, it seems evident that the finished Insomnia is largely the movie Nolan wanted to make. Were it otherwise, it’s unlikely he would be proud enough of the film to single it out as his most underrated.

Nolan would later make blockbusters huge enough to earn him absolute control over his movies. But even early in his career, the future Oscar-winner was enough of a creative force that anything he made was going to become his own. Insomnia may bear somewhat less of Nolan’s stamp than his other films, but it’s still a true Nolan movie.