Inception

Is It All In The Mind?

[Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy]

RANT: Today was both a annoying and endearing trip to the theater. My seat back was banged about several times during the film when people got to go to the bathroom, come back, go to the bathroom again, and come back again. Then the three of them left before the end of the movie anyway. Of course, another couple of people snuck in to those same seats, banging my seat on their way, then proceeded to blurt out some crazy nonsense, seemingly tackling the seat back on the way out and left. The worse part was that the most crucial line of dialogue in the film was missed because of the couple. On the flip side was the quality of the film and the line of geese that crossed in front of my car as I left the parking lot.

SYNOPSIS: In a world such as ours, the technology exists for people to invade dreamscapes. Once there, ideas can be extracted and, on the rare occasion, planted.

Christopher Nolan, the architect and visionary of "Memento", "Batman Begins", "The Prestige" and "The Dark Knight" comes back to the screen with the much anticipated Leonardo DiCaprio effort "Inception". And what a effort it is!

I could talk about the acting all day, but the real star of this film is the film. Every sequence is shot as beautifully as if it were a dream. The script adds such complexities with every layer and with every moment of celluloid running behind of the projector's lens. This film was written and directed more as craft than as a high budget movie. But for the audience, this film delivers on all levels, dreamscapes and reality alike.

It is hard to describe the film without giving much of the plot away. Leo DiCaprio plays Cobb, person with the special ability to enter a person's dreamscape to extract the secrets that the mind' subconscious locks away. Originally an 'architect' of the dreamscape, Cobb is forced to change his role due to a personal incident in his past. Offered an opportunity to return to his family by Ken Watanabe's Saito, Cobb assembles a team including a new 'architect', Ellen Page's Ariadne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Arthur, a 'forger' named Eames played by Tom Hardy, and Dileep Rao's Yusuf providing the compounds to keep them all down the rabbit hole..

The visuals that the architect Ariadne (and Nolan) create are stunning. It serves to propel the story, evolving and unraveling. The story has many slower sequences, but you never get tired of it. As the story's tapestry is woven longer and tighter, the audience starts to lose itself in it. Eventually, even we cannot decipher what is real and what is not. I wish I could lay it all out for you, but I know that being able to see the threads for yourself will be rewarding.

Worth: Friday Night & DVD

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!