Inception

2010, Rated PG-13, 148 minutes, Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan, Produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, Cinematography by Wally Pfister, Original Music by Hans Zimmer

With: Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Ellen Page (Ariadne), Tom Hardy (Eames), Ken Watanabe (Saito), Dileep Rao (Yusuf), Cillian Murphy (Robert Fischer Jr.), Tom Berenger (Browning), Marion Cotillard (Mal)

My head was still reeling with excitement and wonderment as I exited the theater.  It had been a long time since I had so much tense energy built up  after a movie. I almost could not contain myself (I will say I was talking quiet loudly on the way out of the theater). Inception takes place in a world that we quite literally only dream of. Christopher Nolan finally got his chance to build a dream world onscreen and his tight direction and storytelling soared amidst the chaotic world of the dreaming human mind.

The plot is simple yet quite complicated. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an extractor: he enters into peoples dreams and extracts information from their mind while they are asleep. It is not exactly ethical or legal as the main need for an extractor is when someone wants to steal some sort of intellectual property or groundbreaking idea, but there is nothing like it in the world and once you have been into the dream world, nothing else compares. Cobb is the best and that is why he approached for a job that many believe to be impossible: inception- to plant an idea in someone’s mind. Cobb builds a top notch task force to help him complete his tasks and the plan unfolds within the mind of Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy), son of the founder and CEO of a mega-corporation.

I am not going to give any more of the plot because this is a movie that needs to be experienced with a fresh mind, a tabula rasa. Over a year ago when I first heard about this movie, I read that Christopher Nolan believed the best way to experience this movie was to know the least amount about it possible. And so I avoided all trailers beyond the teaser and I did not read any interviews. I agree that this is the best way to go into this movie. It was a wild ride with surprises and twists around every corner (or I suppose in this case every neuron).

Everything about this movie was amazing. The cinematography was breathtaking as we traveled from snowy mountains, to the streets of Paris, to abandoned cities. Wally Pfister (Nolans cinematographer in crime on all his movies) did an excellent job of capturing a real dream world. One thing I did hear about before going into the movie was that they heavily used actual set pieces and locations instead of special effects. And when I saw the set pieces they created I was absolutely astonished. 

Christopher Nolan has written some very tight scripts in his career, I am thinking specifically of Momentum. Be that as it may, in my humble opinion, I believe this is his best and tightest script to date. I was in awe of how interconnected the stories were and how well written it was amidst the multiple plot lines (for lack of a better term- you’ll understand what I mean when you see it). I can only imagine how much foresight and thought had to go into such a complex script that simultaneously had three and at one point four levels of story happening. He did an excellent job of reminding us that yes there is a lot going on and no I have not forgotten about anything, it’s all there right in front of you. And the great thing was this was not done in a way that seemed cocky, but was exciting and enthralling. He does a great job of creating a story that has you feeling satisfied but at the same time engaged and conflicted.

Hans Zimmer was in his element and created a surreal, upfront, and additive soundtrack to the film. He blended action and suspense in a way that almost had you jumping from your seat as you transitioned from scene to scene and location to location.  The soundtrack was an absolutely integral element to the film.

And of course I cannot forget the actors, but I will not go into too much detail except to say they all did an excellent job in their respective roles. 

Inception is a film that gets you thinking. I do not need to prompt you towards thinking points in this film because they are clearly there in front of you to ponder at your leisure (however you will have a hard time not spinning your mind in circles on the drive home from the theater). The story brings up ethics, morality, love, loss, devotion, and the subconscious. I find myself longing to go see the movie again and again just so I can catch up on what I missed the first time and dive deeper into the world of the dream. The tagline for this film is “The dream is real.” So I say it is time for you to wake up, enter your dream, and go to the movies to experience the wonderment that is Inception

A+

Content Advisory

there is some high intensity scenes, mild profanity use, and some shocking moments throughout the film.

Food for thought/discussion

I think that you will be able to generate plenty of your own questions for this particular film, but pay attention to the motivations of the individual characters and their perception of what is real and what is a dream.