Inception (2010)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan

What is a dream? Well, that’s a pretty heady concept for a normal action movie, but Christopher Nolan isn’t into normal action movies. He goes quite a bit deeper.

First, though, let’s check out a preview or two.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK–I actually wasn’t all that interested in this until I saw who directed it (David Fincher) and wrote it (Aaron Sorkin). Other than that, it’s just the story of how Facebook got it’s start and it stars stunt Michael Cera, Jesse Eisenberg. (Not to take anything away from Jesse. I like him and all, but I really feel like Michael has the market cornered on this character.)

I dunno. I’ve never been very interested in the story of the guys who invented Facebook. It’s not particularly compelling. But with Fincher behind the camera and Sorkin behind the computer, I’m there.

THE TOWN–”From the director of Gone Baby Gone.” That’s one of the first lines of this trailer for a film that stars Ben Affleck…THE DIRECTOR OF GONE BABY GONE! Why do they not use his name?

Anyway, this is the story of a thief who falls in love with a bank teller who was traumatized by hast last heist. As the truth gets closer to her, things get more intense in his life, too. I’m up for this one. Gone Baby Gone was great and I can’t wait to see if Affleck can direct himself.

Ok, let’s get back to those dreams.

The less you know about Christopher Nolan’s latest mindfuck of a movie going in, the better, so I’ll do my best to keep plot points under wraps. All you really need to know is that Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the leader of a gang who go into peoples’ dreams to find out their secrets. The team includes Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Eames (Tom Hardy, the new Mad Max) and, in a way, Saito (Ken Watanabe). He manages to get a new team member out of his father in law (Michael Caine). This new member is college student Ariadne (Ellen Page).

The crew has been hired to do one last job by Saito on a young man named Fisher (Cillian Murphy). If they succeed, then Cobb gets something that he’s been trying for for about a year. If they fail, they could all lose their minds.

And what the hell is Marion Cotillard doing popping up in all of the dreams?

This is a pretty typical “one last job” movie, but with such a twist that it rises FAR above that rather low-concept plot and becomes something much more complex and deep. Something that only a star psych major could truly understand, but laymen such as myself can really enjoy a lot.

As the plot (and the dream world) gets deeper, so we get deeper into Cobb’s life and psyche. It’s an amazing journey and is full of tension and intrigue. We’re so invested in Cobb and his band of merry dream stealers that it’s hard to watch as things get harder and harder for them and they go deeper and deeper.

I loved pretty much everything about this movie. It’s an action movie with more brains than most brainy indie movies lately. It’s proof that, not only should Nolan be given however much money he wants when he wants to make a film, but he should be allowed to collect actors for his repertory along the way. It was nice to see familiar faces from the Batman movies pop up throughout the film.

Most likely, this will end up being the best live-action film of the summer. (Toy Story 3 MAY edge it out as the best film overall.) We can only hope that it gets the box office and accolades that it deserves. So far it seems like it is. The film world may be redeemable yet.

By the way, listen for a lot of Edith Piaf music. Har har har.