Inception
“Inception” is an instantly engaging movie going experience. Director Christopher Nolan turns the lights down and begins throwing layered ideas right at you, assuming you’ll catch on. He doesn’t dumb down a single moment and gears his movie to be appreciated on many levels. This is accessible art that challenges and never condescends. “Inception” speaks its own language, has its own science and rules yet never feels foreign.
Halfway through the film, I wanted to start over. Starting over is the proper way to put it because watching this film is much like going on a journey and by the end you feel like you have actually gone somewhere else. I wanted to start over because I had caught on to the film’s rhythms and I could see the dialogue taking on new meanings. Thoughts and theories had started to take shape and I wanted to analyze and dissect everything. The film is very interactive, causing your brain to whirl and work as Nolan presents his worlds. While I’m sure there is a black and white answer to what truly goes on in the film, every nook and crevice of Inception is open to theory.
My synopsis will be kept short because part of the joy of viewing “Inception” is letting the story unfold before you. I will merely present the plot as what can be culled from the various trailers and T.V. spots.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, a leader of squad of dream thieves who enter people’s sub-conscious and steal their ideas. It is a tricky business dealing with perception and very easy to lose your way. Cobb has been lost for a very long time and when a chance at redemption presents itself, he begins to assemble a team to for one last job that will set everything straight. The job won’t be easy however because instead of stealing a thought he is asked to do the opposite: to implant one.
“Inception” is essentially a heist movie and Nolan’s years spent in Gotham City has taught the man how to stage some action. What is interesting is how the violence is treated as almost a peripheral element. The real action takes place in the audience’s mind.
Every component of this film is top notch. The international cast on display rises to the occasion and populates “Inception” with believable and interesting characters. DiCaprio, following his textured work in “Shutter Island” (the man convincingly played manic confusion for two hours straight) gives another bold performance here as Cobb. He centers the film and presents the complex notions of the script with a sure hand. Ellen Page holds her own, not falling into the comfort of the standard “Ellen Page” performance (“Juno,” “Whip It”) we’ve seen from her in the last few years.
The movie all but belongs to Joseph Gordon-Levitt who plays Cobb’s right-hand man, Arthur. Arthur is the silent hero of the film and he anchors chaos around him. “The Hallway Scene,” as it is sure to be referred to, is a staggering piece of stunt work and Gordon-Levitt executes it with gusto. Arthur is a character that you don’t know if you like a first (from the trailers, I thought he was a villain) and grows on you because he keeps his intentions and motivations hidden and slowly reveals the reality beneath the surface. The same can be said for the entire film.
Nolan has firmly established his signatures as a filmmaker and writer. The look and sound of Inception falls in line with his “Batman” movies and all of his films have dealt with people alone and alienated, dealing with loss or regret. Inception establishes Nolan as a master creator of cinema and the use of the term Nolanesque can officially begin. What excites me most is that these films of his are smart and challenging and people actually go to them. Without playing to, what is perceived to be, a simple American audience that only wants junk food movies with huge fireballs and naked, nubile girls flashing and flaunting, Nolan makes his smart films and people go. His movies generate millions and that is a massive achievement.