Nolan has utilised big actors in smaller roles before, encouraging them to invest something extra in order to make the character memorable (see: Tom Hardy in Inception, Rebecca Hall in The Prestige), but the script for Interstellar puts so much focus on Cooper and Murphy that most of the actors in the smaller parts are completely wasted. Looking at Damon again, Mann is so blandly drawn that the actor has barely anything to do - the character is defined by his loneliness and dedication to the mission, while no real attempt is made at giving him an actual personality. It's a common problem with the film. Interstellar's characters function according to what the plot requires of them, and it extends to the leads. As good as McConaughey is, and as powerful as he is in the role, we don't know all that much about Cooper. Everything Cooper does is based on the love he has for his kids and his desire to save the world. As Nolan complicates his stories, his characters simplify further, and here he seems largely interested in the cold, hard facts (until he makes a jaw-dropping dive into pure fantasy - more on that later). A challenge is to list personality traits for each principal player - congratulations if you manage more than one per character.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
