"Inception" Review

A blockbuster with guts, “Inception” dares to be different. Instead of crafting a simple narrative, it boasts a unique structure. Instead of allowing its main character to play second fiddle to computer effects, it sufficiently explores the psyche of its leading man. Instead of creating a story bereft of any intelligence, it asks questions of its audience. And while it may not be perfect, it is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious films of the year.

In “Inception,” director-writer Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight,” “The Prestige”) creates a world in which people can share dreams. The film follows Dom Cobb, an extractor who specializes in stealing ideas from people’s dreams. Dom (Leonardo DiCaprio) wants to quit his profession and return to his two children. When corporate boss Saito (Ken Watanabe) offers Dom the chance to return to his normal life in exchange for one last job, Dom assembles a team to perform “inception,” the act of planting an idea inside someone’s mind, instead of stealing one. While most of Dom’s team believe inception cannot be performed, Dom is set on carrying out the complex mission so he can finally return home.

It seems that with “Inception,” Christopher Nolan finally has a handle on how to frame an action sequence. While his “Batman” films were often muddled with incoherent action and poor editing, “Inception” finally proves that Nolan has the chops to handle complicated action set pieces. While some sequences still feel confusing and convoluted, others display impeccable pacing and endless creativity.

Nolan also applies his creativity to the film’s eye-popping visuals. From collapsing cities to revolving hallways, Nolan creates a world that is all his own. His bold vision begs the question, how long has it been since a filmmaker truly created a new world for audiences to discover? While you could make a strong case for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” it does not hold a candle to Nolan’s twisted dream world.

While Nolan certainly displays great visual flair in “Inception,” the film’s script is not as strong as some of his previous films. For a good fifteen minutes, the movie devolves into what this reviewer is calling “dream-speak.” In these conversations, Dom and his team analyze how they are going to penetrate the subject’s mind, as they throw out words like “subconscious,” “catharsis,” and “loops.” While some of this dream lingo is essential to the film’s plot, most of it is dull and repetitive. Thankfully, these scenes are relatively short and do not damage the film’s stellar pacing.

Backing up Nolan’s jigsaw plot is an impressive ensemble of accomplished actors. Leonardo DiCaprio, finally free from his recent string of accents and exaggerated mannerisms, delivers one of his best performances. Beautifully capturing Cobb’s emotional fragility, DiCaprio wonderfully taps into Dom’s psychology.

The film’s other performances are uniformly excellent. While Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are not given much to do, they shine in small moments, even as they are saddled with much of the film’s poor dialogue. Cillian Murphy also shines in a pivotal role, adding emotion to the film’s labyrinth plot. The film’s best performance, however, belongs to Marion Cotillard, who plays a mysterious woman from Dom’s past. Cotillard brings a fiery intensity to her role that makes the character unpredictable and flat-out scary. An overwhelming feeling of eeriness, accentuated wonderfully by Hans Zimmer’s score, accompanies all of her scenes. While Nolan has a firm control over the majority of the film, Cotillard’s scenes feel loose and unpredictable, which is a testament to both the actress and the director.

While the film’s plot is complex, its main themes are simple and profound. “Inception” views the mind as a complicated maze often twisted and distorted by human emotion. Feelings of guilt, love, and inadequacy run through our mind and eat away at our thoughts and memories. When one fails to come to terms with these feelings, or runs away from their life’s complications, they addle the mind into a further state of confusion. “Inception,” although rooted in a world of dreams, insists that we accept the reality of our situations. Only then can we “let go” of certain memories and move on with our lives.

To conclude, “Inception” tackles the entanglements of emotion better than any of Nolan’s other films. While the film is not as thematically complex as some of Nolan’s previous efforts, it is more ambitious in both narrative and structure. And if “Inception” perhaps does not rank as the best of Nolan’s filmography, it definitely makes for a bold, unique vision in an otherwise dull summer.

A-