Following

This is one of my favorite debut films for an auteur.  It's always interesting to come back to because it's so interesting to see where he came from.  Considering he did pretty much everything but the acting in this film, it came out really well and is easy to go back to, not just because of its moderate pace but also low runtime, but the intrigue in the story and acting.  I can see why some arguments I remember hearing back when I was in film school about this one being pretentious would be said as is about other films of his as they involve characters that seem full of themselves who are kind of presented in a way to almost be idolizing them.  I feel that can be seen with Cobb here as he seems almost too good but then again I feel there are so many movies that fall into that regard, like almost every gangster movie I've ever seen.  In the end I think it's just about what each viewer allows to pass by their suspension of belief or in this case hypnoticism?  

I say that because I feel with most of these characters whether it be Cobb, or the Joker, or Tony Montana, to name one of many mob movie villains who fit this mold, in order to actually idolize these characters you have to be under some hypnosis because objectively they're all absolutely insane, which is what makes them so entertaining to watch.  Whether the hypnosis be cause of societal conditioning whether that be from the entertainment industry, family or friends who prop up these characters as being cool or bad ass, but in the end they're generally meant to be cautionary tales of what happens when society fails.  But going back to Cobb you can say he's even more pretentious because it's almost like he's the one taking it upon himself to be the one telling others to look deeply in themselves and evaluate themselves with his notion of "You take it away, and show them what they had."  In the end he's really not one to be talking as he's just projecting his own faults of doing nothing that really contributes anything as at the end of the day all he's really doing is trolling people and pretending he's some sort of prophet for it.  Surface level it's made to seem deep but upon some thought, it really isn't.  It would be more interesting if he gave back the things he stole but for the neo noir style of film that would feel a little too Disney or even Hallmark channel like.  But whatever he has to tell himself at night to help himself go to sleep and feel like his life has purpose.  Sounds a lot like the themes of another Chris Nolan movie.