Movie Review #41 Inception

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Inception (2010) Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt Directed by Chris Nolan

He has impressed us with Memento (2000), tricked us with The Prestige (2006), and entertained us with both Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark knight (2008), so what does Chris Nolan have in his “Utility Belt” for us in 2010…well only the best film of the summer and perhaps the year. Nolan delivers big in a film that takes you on a wild ride through the dream world. It challenges all your senses with its crisp and beautiful special effects and pokes at your psyche with its wild metaphoric story that will often confuse you, but surely always entertain you. I have waited all year to see a film that comes even close to some of the great films of last year (see Top Ten films of 2009 List)…well my wait is over…Inception is that good (and thank god cause I was starting to worry Hollywood).

Inception is the story of Cobb (played well by Leonardo DiCaprio) who is a mind thief who serves big business. Cobb and his partner Arthur (played very cool by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) have one last big job to pull off that could help Cobb clear his name. Along for the ride is a team of mind experts that include Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, and Ken Watanabe…all very good. The job has something to do with planting an idea into the mind of young business man (the always creepy Cillian Murphy) so that he may break apart his recently inherited company. The job requires them to delve deep into the unconscious mind diving into dream upon dream upon dream…each dive taking them deeper into the mind and increasing the risk that they may never wake up. Does that sound hard to follow? Yeah it is actually and complicating matters further is the constant projections of Cobb’s dead wife that keep showing up within those dreams (played by Marion Cotillard who is very good). If the story sounds like too much I would tell you to go anyway, frankly the gravity-less fight scenes and wonderful cinematography should be enough to entertain you even if you get lost in the unconscious maze that Nolan has built. If you are an attentive movie watcher this film is right up your alley as it’s layered story that shatters relativity as you know it will pose a challenge for you to solve and will keep you guessing for the most part. I highly recommend this one (though I will warn you this isn’t the one to go to if you want to make out or text your way through it) Inception is the best of the year so far…it delivers.

(The Shawshank Scale 1-10) Not since The Matrix have we seen such mind bending creativity in both writing and filming…a very good 8.0 on The Scale and an early favorite for a Best Picture Nomination.

Food For Thought: DiCaprio has literally 25 films on the horizon to look forward too, but his next project is called Hoover (2012), where he will star as the disgraced FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Gordan-Levitt (who we hope to see getting more roles) has Live with It coming out later this year about a young man dealing with cancer. And don’t look now but Batman 3 is on the horizon (2012) with Nolan once again helming it.