This movie is very poorly edited. I understand why its important to play the scenes out of chronological order but it should have been done more carefully to preserve clarity. Additionally too many people were introduced quickly and not named, and then it becomes important to know their names in the political discussions towards the end, which destroyed clarity of the film.
Most scenes are scored and shot so dramatically as if they are the climax of other Nolan films. This is an issue when the scene itself does not portray anything that's actually dramatic, or something where the significance has not been established by the film. Most scenes in the first half of the film are like this.