This Wasted Casting For Christopher Nolan’s Inception Still Frustrates Me 14 Years Later

Inception is easily one of my favorite Christopher Nolan movies, and even though the writer/director often places the right actors in the right roles, I still can’t get over one annoying personnel decision in the 2010 mind-bending blockbuster. Every Christopher Nolan movie comes across as meticulously planned, and Inception is perhaps one of the biggest examples of this trait in his body of work. Although Inception‘s ending being so subjective is a big part of the movie’s enduring popularity, other factors, such as the ambitious cinematography, also contribute to the film’s continued success so long after its release.

Inception‘s cast is filled with huge names. While this doesn’t necessarily guarantee a project will do well, Nolan helps the movie along by doing an amazing job of directing the group of stars and bringing the whole thing together. While I largely don’t have any problem with any of Inception‘s castings, there’s one in particular that still bugs me for a very specific reason. My grievance is nothing to do with their acting ability, but rather how the actor is used.

Michael Caine Was Criminally Underutilized In Inception

Professor Stephen Miles is barely in the movie

Michael Caine’s collaboration with Christopher Nolan predates Inception, so it doesn’t surprise me that the actor was brought back again for the 2010 dream movie. However, Caine’s role as Miles – Dom Cobb’s father-in-law – meant he was barely onscreen, and I strongly believe an actor of Caine’s pedigree shouldn’t have been used in such a minor way. Then again, there is an annoyingly rational explanation for his scarce appearance in Inception. The movie, from a narrative perspective, is incredibly dense.

Related

Why Christopher Nolan Never Made Inception 2

Despite being regarded as one of his best movies, Christopher Nolan never made a sequel to 2010’s Inception. Here’s why Inception 2 hasn’t happened.

Between all the lore and the detailed worldbuilding, it’s amazing that Inception covered the ground that it did. Other than Inception‘s five dream levels, almost everything else felt like an afterthought. As such, it’s not really a surprise that the father of Cobb’s late wife wasn’t a major part of the story. While Caine performed well as Miles, almost any actor could have filled the role and had the same lack of impact. I’m of the strong opinion that if an actor like Caine is on board, there had better be a role big enough to suit his reputation.

Christopher Nolan Made It Up To Caine 2 Years Later

Michael Caine returned for much bigger roles in future Nolan movies

Inception was Caine’s fourth successive Nolan movie, and that streak increased to five when he returned as Alfred Pennyworth in the director’s second Batman sequel: 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. Alfred was a far more prominent character than Miles was in Inception, so at least the 2010 movie wasn’t the beginning of Caine receiving reduced roles. Although the actor didn’t appear in 2023’s Oppenheimer, he did star in three more Christopher Nolan movies after The Dark Knight Rises, with Inception marking the halfway point in his eight-movie Nolan streak.

Christopher Nolan’s 2010 Sci-fi action film Inception follows a thief who enters the dreams of others to steal information and, after being caught, is given a chance to clean his slate by performing an untested concept – implanting an idea within another mind. An ensemble cast is brought together by former target Saito, who seeks to implant the idea of destroying his own company into his father’s mind. In a complex labyrinth of dreams and untested theories at the forefront, survival is not guaranteed in this psychological heist where the stakes are high, and nothing is what it seems.

Release Date

July 16, 2010

Runtime

148 minutes