Michael Caine first found breakout success as an actor in the 1960s, whereas Christopher Nolan wasn’t super well-known until the early to mid-2000s. Nevertheless, the two ended up being surprisingly well-matched as collaborators. Though Nolan never directed Caine in a lead role, the latter ended up having appearances – some cameos, some supporting roles – in a total of eight movies directed by the former.
Caine’s work with Nolan is really just a small part of his overall career, but if you’re a little younger and/or more into newer movies, Michael Caine’s roles in Christopher Nolan’s movies might well be the most recognizable he’s starred in. Of the 12 movies Nolan directed between 1998 and 2023, Caine was featured in some capacity in eight, with everything directed by Nolan ranked below… purely based on how much of an impression Caine makes, whether by sheer screen time or the material he’s given to work with.
9 ‘Following’ (1998), ‘Memento’ (2000), ‘Insomnia’ (2002), ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023)
Caine-less movies
There are only so many ways that you can say “Hey, this Christopher Nolan movie lacks Michael Caine,” so it’s best to get the four he’s not in out of the way early. Following was a small-scale production that didn’t have any real stars in it, while the mind-bending Memento was a little bigger in scale and budget, but still didn’t really have any part you’d expect Michael Caine to play.
Insomnia was carried by Al Pacino and Robin Williams and the last movie released before Nolan’s streak of Caine films commenced, while Oppenheimer – Nolan’s most recent, at the time of writing – had many great actors giving great performances, but no Michael Caine. Caine did announce his retirement in 2023, and the final Nolan movie he had a part in felt like a good send-off. Plus, it’s hard to imagine what kind of role Caine could’ve played in Oppenheimer, given how it was a historical movie, and that naturally limits casting more than a movie with entirely fictional characters.
- Release Date
- July 21, 2023
- Runtime
- 180 minutes
8 ‘Dunkirk’ (2017)
An uncredited voice-only Caine role
Of all the eight movies Christopher Nolan directed that do actually contain some Michael Caine, it’s pretty easy to single out Dunkirk as the one that has the least Caine. After all, his role here was an uncredited one, and it was voice-only, given he “appears” as the leader of a fighter squadron whose voice is heard in the film without Michael Caine himself being seen.
So, if you come into Dunkirk wanting Michael Caine, you’ll probably be disappointed. But if you just want to see a pretty great war movie that’s assembled in an interesting and continually intense way, then you’ll probably be satisfied, because it really is one of the best – and most novel – World War II films to come out in recent memory.
- Release Date
- July 21, 2017
- Runtime
- 106 minutes
7 ‘Tenet’ (2020)
A Caine cameo
Tenet marked the final time Michael Caine collaborated with Christopher Nolan, because while some actors announce their retirement and then go back on their word (look at you, Daniel Day-Lewis, you wonderful rapscallion, you), Caine was 90 when he said he was stepping away from acting. He’s more than earned his retirement, too, and the unusual yet underrated sci-fi film that was Tenet gave him a nice little role with which to round out his time spent as a continually reliable presence in Nolan’s filmography.
It’s a more substantial role than he had in Dunkirk, sure, but his role as Crosby – who’s a senior member of British Intelligence – is limited to one scene which involves briefing the film’s main character, who’s known only as the Protagonist (John David Washington). It’s a solid scene, though, and also a little bittersweet now, in hindsight, knowing that it’s almost certainly the last time Caine will be in a Nolan film.
Tenet
- Release Date
- August 22, 2020
6 ‘Inception’ (2010)
A moderate Caine supporting role
Earlier in his career, Michael Caine was no stranger to good heist movies, meaning he fits in quite well within Inception, which itself puts a novel sci-fi spin on the heist genre. Instead of being about stealing something, the narrative of Inception involves implanting an idea within one person’s subconscious, but the way this plays out – with the team-assembling, planning, and execution – feels very heist-like.
Michael Caine’s character is a significant mentor for the main character here (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), and he plays a pretty sizable role throughout Inception’s first act. Caine doesn’t have as much to do once the focus shifts a little more toward action, but he’s a solid part of an overall strong ensemble cast nonetheless that also includes the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Elliot Page, and Cillian Murphy, among others.
Inception
- Release Date
- July 15, 2010
- Runtime
- 148
5 ‘Interstellar’ (2014)
Decent Caine-age
In Interstellar, Michael Caine is given an initially comparable role to what he had in Inception, a movie released four years earlier that also had a one-word title that started with “I.” Actually, Christopher Nolan seems to really love one-word titles. That’s beside the point. Anyway, Caine seems set up to be not much more than a mentor who’ll mostly be there during the most exposition-heavy part of the movie.
But then Interstellar throws something of a curveball that won’t be spoiled here, even if the movie is admittedly 10+ years old at this point. Caine is given a bit more to do emotionally here, and his character ends up being surprisingly complex, so it’s arguably one of the meatier and/or multi-faceted roles Caine had in a Nolan movie. He’s utilized extremely well here, and even outside Michael Caine, Interstellar is pretty great overall, and perhaps the most emotional Christopher Nolan movie to date.
- Release Date
- November 7, 2014
- Runtime
- 169 minutes
4 ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
A role the size of a tangerine
Perhaps even more than the critically acclaimed Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight feels like the closest thing to a modern classic that Christopher Nolan has directed to date. Just about every component of this 2.5+ hour movie works in perfect harmony, making it thrilling, intense, unpredictable, action-packed, exciting, and even a little thought-provoking (at least at times) throughout.
Michael Caine shows up as Bruce Wayne’s butler/closest ally, Alfred, one of three times he played the character, though he probably gets the least to do here of those three appearances by a hair. Ultimately, that kind of comes down to Heath Ledger being in The Dark Knight and entirely stealing the show thanks to his depiction of the Joker… but honestly, everyone else in this movie is great, too, Caine included. It’s just hard to shine quite as bright when Ledger was as good as he was here.
- Release Date
- July 18, 2008
- Runtime
- 152 minutes
3 ‘The Dark Knight Rises’
Caine gets some moments to shine
While it might not be as great a superhero movie as its predecessor, The Dark Knight Rises still has quite a lot to offer for anyone willing to engage with something that’s not as perfect as The Dark Knight. It was the final film in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and worked as an effective farewell to his take on Bruce Wayne/Batman, giving him one final conflict to take part in before pretty much riding off into the sunset. Or riding off into a nuclear bomb blast. Seemingly… seemingly.
Michael Caine, as Alfred, gets a bit more to do in The Dark Knight Rises versus The Dark Knight. He gets a couple of seriously emotional scenes that help show Caine’s range as an actor and his surprising vulnerability, and he does also play a key role in the final scene of the movie, alongside Christian Bale’s Wayne. It’s endearing, in a way, seeing Nolan make Alfred so important for the epilogue, in turn making Caine essential for the overall farewell that this movie ultimately is.
- Release Date
- July 16, 2012
- Runtime
- 164 minutes
2 ‘The Prestige’ (2006)
A solid amount of Caine
The Prestige really relies on its acting to work, given it’s lighter on action compared to the vast majority of Christopher Nolan movies made between 2005 and 2020… so, essentially, those that Michael Caine appeared in. The writing and inclusion of numerous plot twists help for sure, when so much of The Prestige feels like a magic trick (appropriate, when the story is about magic), but Caine and the other actors here do deserve credit for making the film work so well.
Michael Caine plays Cutter, a man who’s not the protagonist, but does have enough distance/involvement in the story at hand to feel like an essential part of what’s happening while also being something of an observer. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale might get the flashier roles, but Caine soars in a slightly subtler performance that might well rank as one of his best overall, Nolan-directed movies or otherwise.
- Release Date
- October 20, 2006
- Runtime
- 130 minutes
1 ‘Batman Begins’ (2005)
A second-billed Caine shines
Of all the Christopher Nolan and Michael Caine collaborations, 2005’s Batman Begins is probably the one that gives Caine the most to do, which is endearing, given it marked the first time the pair worked together. It was an origin story for Batman, so Christian Bale was still the star, but Michael Caine was understandably given second billing here, and, appropriately enough, made the second-biggest impression as an actor of everyone in the cast.
There have been other solid performances from actors playing Alfred both in the past and since Batman Begins, but Caine really made the role his own here, in many ways. He’s such a comforting presence for both the main character and the audience at large; a genuinely warm figure within a relatively dark, gritty, and sometimes bleak film. Michael Caine is fantastic here, and is given enough to do that this is probably the “most” he’s been in – or made an impression within – any Christopher Nolan movie.
- Release Date
- June 15, 2005
- Cast
- Ken Watanabe , Liam Neeson , Gary Oldman , Tom Wilkinson , Linus Roache , Christian Bale , Katie Holmes , Mark Boone Junior , Michael Caine , Rutger Hauer , Cillian Murphy , Morgan Freeman
- Runtime
- 140 Minutes
