Do you ever dream something so completely, you even remember (or think you remember) the words written in a note within the dream? You could smell the fresh cut summer grass, or hear the thunder rumbling in the distance...as if it was slowly creeping up on you? After this epic dream, which included a fabulous car chase, a zero gravity fist fight- and the longest plunge from a bridge in recent memory, did you wake to find that you couldn't quite remember the intricacies of the plot-but you know that you understood it as you watched it?
If you did just that, then you have just seen the movie "Inception." The latest from Christopher Nolan, the man behind the "Dark Knight" as well as "The Prestige," this 190 million dollar love child delivers on every level. (Hey, if you just made approx 533 million with "The Dark Knight" you would be able to do your dream project at Warner's too.)
The story centers on Leonardo DiCaprio who stars as Dom Cobb who is a thief with a very particular set of skills. Who invades people's minds and steals ideas fro them. Sometimes these ideas are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and from the way he has talked about it may have changed history. The way he accomplishes this is by creating a dream that he inserts the subject into...then he and his team steal the idea.
This time around he is hired to plant an idea in someone's head, quite a different proposition than just stealing ideas. This is known as "Inception." Cobb surrounds himself with a team of people who all have specific skills, such as Ellen Page who plays Ariadne, or "The Architect" of the dreams. Arthur is played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, and he is the mercenary-type..the muscle within the dreams. They hire a person who can imitate other people within dreams named Eames. All of these people play a part in a heist to plant an idea into a young industrialist's head after his father's death. The monkey wrench in the whole thing is that this will be Cobb's last job--if he completes this he will be able to return home and see his children. He also is wrestling with his past in the form of his wife, who is no longer alive. She invades the dreams and causes problems throughout the movie.
Suffice it to say that this is a hard movie to describe...but there is really no need to, as all you have to do is sit through it to understand the intent and intricacies of the plot. The story and pacing are spot-on...just when you are ready to move on, the story moves forward, and never once did I find any of the explanations of how the team was to work inside the dream world as boring or contrived. To top it all off, the performances by each of the actors is fantastic. There is a reason why Leo is a leading man, and he demonstrates it in this film very well. The set design is fantastic, and the set-pieces are very well done...a zero g fist fight being a highlight.
The subtlety of the music cannot be emphasized enough in this movie either. Hans Zimmer is hit or miss for me, but in this film he nails it perfectly. The music captures the right blend of urgency drama and use of technology and as such becomes an integral part of the film.
If you want to be challenged by a movie, this is the one. If you want to go and turn off your brain, then you might want to avoid this one...but still...the themes and mechanics are explained in such a manner that you can understand them within the context of the film. Just don't ask me to describe any specifics about it...as I don't even really remember how I got here......Where is my totem?
