In one of my recent reviews, I mentioned that it’s a questionable sign when movie goers leave the theater and no one is talking. Either the disappointment is so deep that movie goers are rendered silent; or the movie is so good that the audience is left speechless, already deep in thought about what they just saw.
Inception is leaving people speechless.
In it, Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are dream thieves who steal people’s ideas for some big company. But, the dream thieves have been gotten by the same person they were out to get; a business man named Saito (Ken Watanabe). Saito, ever the trickster, talks Cobb into going on one last dream mission. Only this time, the objective is to plant a thought in someone’s subconscious instead of stealing it.
First and foremost, I have to wonder how Nolan came up with this world of alternate realities. Just the effort to keep up with the details during the writing process must have been a hard task. Throughout this film, it’s easy for an audience member to be disoriented about what is dream and what is reality – which Nolan plays with, much to my delight.
Like movie audiences across America, I love this movie. It’s got action, tremendous suspense, a surprise ending and really cool special effects. For the summer of 2010, so far, this one’s a gem.
DiCaprio has reminded audiences why he’s a bankable actor. He has great talent and it shows in this film. Likewise, the Academy Award winning-Marion Cotillard as his wife, Mal, is quite good in her role. I personally find this actress a little on the annoying side, but she has somewhat redeemed herself with Inception.
Gordon-Levitt, who usually plays the underdog role, has got surprising backbone in this film. His Arthur shoots a high powered weapon, engages in hand-to-hand combat with tough guys, and helps save the day. This is Gordon-Levitt’s best role yet.
Ellen Page as Ariadne is a little grating. She is new to the group of thieves and acts as the little sister of the crew. However, her kneading of Cobb to confront his demons is simultaneously necessary and exasperating.
Tom Hardy gets most of the funny lines as Eames. He’s so quick-witted that if an audience member is not paying attention, they’ll miss the joke. Hardy is quite the looker and has quite the stage presence. I’m expecting to see a lot more of him in the coming years.
Watanabe usually plays the bad guy in his films. Apparently, this is not the case in Inception. Although, with the questionable ending, I have to wonder how much of a good guy Saito is.
Other actors of note are Cillian Murphy as Robert Fischer, Dileep Rao as Yusuf, Tom Berenger as Browning, Pete Postlethwaite as Maurice Fischer, Michael Caine as Miles, and Lukas Haas as Nash.
I will not give away any more of the plot, for which Nolan will likely thank me. In order to get the true experience of Inception, I highly recommend that you go to the movie theater to see it for yourself.
Like all great films, Inception will have you walking out of the theater ready to discuss and analyze plot points, character analysis, and how awesome the movie is. It’s so good that it may have saved the summer of 2010 for the movie theater set and the movie industry.
KAliciaG@Aol.com
Photo: Leonardo DiCaprio
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