Inception.
When writer-director Christopher Nolan first introduced himself with Memento, the trippy told-in-reverse-order crime thriller, it was obvious he had a singular cinematic vision. When he delivered Batman Begins a few years later, he proved that he could bring his indie credentials to the world of the Hollywood blockbuster.
He is that rare filmmaker who can straddle both dream worlds – the bombast of Hollywood tentpole-land and the invigorating and intelligent cinematic mindset of the indie film world that is not hooked to the life support of an easily digestible concept for mass consumption.
There have been decades when filmmakers with this ability were plying their trade regularly – the 1930s and 1970s for example – but these days such filmmakers are an endangered species.
Inception, the film that has blown away the admittedly mediocre competition of this movie summer of our discontent, is not even Nolan’s greatest masterpiece to date. But it is a fascinating visual feast, The Matrix with heart and soul, a rollercoaster ride into layers of the subconscious mind that challenges our ability to keep up with his mind games. In less skilled hands it could feel like a mere intellectual jigsaw puzzle with a visual flair, but Nolan brings emotional investment by borrowing Martin Scorsese’s muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, and letting him loose in this magnificent dreamscape.
Inception is in essence a heist movie, but not like any heist movie you have ever experienced before. This is a heist of the mind. The dream thieves, led by DiCaprio’s Cobb, are a team, each with a role to play in order to enter the mark’s mind and make him think he is generating this dream and that they are there to help him navigate it.
Cillian Murphy is the mark, a super rich businessman. They take him down one hell of a rabbit hole. Cobb’s cohorts are his cool headed right-hand-man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt); the inventive and fun loving Eames (Tom Hardy); the newly recruited visual architect, Ariadne (Ellen Page); the sedative specialist, Yusef ( Dileep Rao) and the man who has hired them, Saito (Ken Watanabe).
Cobb is the leader, but his own mind has been damaged by the guilt that haunts him in both his waking world and his dream state. As the mind crime plays out there are unexpected twists that put the team in danger because Cobb can’t control his stray thoughts as they invade the precise design of the crime.
DiCaprio is brilliant at conveying anguish as his mind slips in and out of control. My only quibble with his casting is that this performance comes right after he did some serious mind-tripping with Scorsese in Shutter Island. If you’ve seen both films, it’s hard not to notice the parallels and they are a distraction.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the king of indie cinema in my book (Mysterious Skin, Brick, The Lookout, 500 Days of Summer). If this film makes him a breakout star in Blockbusterville, so be it – he deserves to jump to the A-list.
Ellen Page adds to her impressive resume (Hard Candy, Juno, Smart People) with a nice supporting turn. She deserves a shot to play Lisbeth Salander in the American version of the Millennium trilogy. Tom Hardy is also a lot of fun as the dream artist who really enjoys his work.
Inception is a blast, a big-concept movie with an indie-film heart.
Inception ***1/2
Written & directed by Christopher Nolan; rated PG
J. Edgar Hoover did a lot of good while he was the head of the F.B.I., including organizing a national file for fingerprint identification. But, like many men who are allowed to stay in power for too long, he abused his position in his latter years, creating secret files that he used to blackmail people to bend them to his side.
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1. TJ Larson said... on Jul 17, 2010 at 11:29PM
“I was absolutely blown away with this film and I am a huge movie buff. I'm bold enough to say that this is the best film I've seen in at least a year. From start to finish I was on the edge of my seat and insanely involved in the story line. Hats off to the writer/director, you give me hope that there still are directors out there that want to blow the audience away with a great story more than just take thief money for a movie ticket...... I reccommend this movie to all.”
2. Anonymous said... on Jul 18, 2010 at 07:23AM
“great movie..all i can say is WOW”
3. vincent armone said... on Jul 19, 2010 at 03:14PM
“Freaud and Jung must have tears in there eyes for this brillant movie, All hail Nolan and a top notch cast. Brav-Fucking-o, BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR BY FAR”