Arguably the most anticipated film of the year, Christopher Nolan's Batman swan song The Dark Knight Rises is a nearly three-hour conclusion to what is being called the greatest superhero trilogy of our time. The reviews have been quite positive, although a few noticeable plot holes and some "leap of faith" moments marred the experience for some critics and fans. Regardless of your overall opinion of Rises, a question can be posed: did you catch everything? Like him or not, Christopher Nolan is an extremely intelligent guy, and for those of us who have experienced all of his feature films (that's a total of eight, by the way), it's always a challenge to keep up with his thinking. Whether you viewed the film five times or once, it's always possible that you missed a cameo, allusion, or throwback to one of the previous two films. So, how many of the following ten did you notice?
10. Dr. Thomas Lennon
Thomas Lennon is an actor probably most recognizable for his role as Lieutenant Dangle in Reno 911! and a number of Judd Apatow films (and those of that ilk), where he often plays an eccentric. With someone whose face is so recoginsable from a different genre, it seems strange on the surface that Nolan would cast Lennon in a supporting role in his picture. Oddly enough, Mr. Lennon appeared as Bruce Wayne's monotonous doctor in Rises. For fans of Reno 911!, this may seem like a peculiar casting choice given the actor's usual work. In reality, this is not Lennon's first appearance in a Nolan film, nor his first appearance as a doctor in a Nolan film. In Nolan's 2000 breakthrough film Memento, Lennon appeared briefly as a house doctor for "Sammy Jenkis", working to improve the man's memory-afflicting condition. So why did Nolan choose to cast Lennon as a doctor again? If you were to ask me, I'd say there's no logical reason that's clearly evident, except as perhaps a small nod to his previous work. Of course, Nolan might say differently. The world may never know.