Worth Staying Awake For

The first five minutes of Christopher Nolan’s Inception were, in my humble opinion, some of the most painful moments in cinematic history. It was at that point that I realized I was in for an exceptionally good movie. When I decided to stop trying to figure things out, realized that this film would probably require more than one viewing, I opened my mind (get it?) for a terrifically enjoyable movie experience.

Where to begin? To try and review this movie without going into deep detail about the plot is going to be difficult, but I am not in the business of ruining twists and endings, so I will do my best. Inception explores the exploits of a team of, for lack of a better word, thieves who are able to enter a subject’s subconscious when they are dreaming and extract, and in very rare cases implant, information. It sounds cool, until one factors in the easy blurring between subconscious and reality, leading to a series of dangerous and compromising situations.

I knew none of this upon entering the cinema. In hindsight, it probably would have helped me to shuffle through the first few scenes—if I had had any idea what the movie was about, I most likely wouldn’t have felt like my mind was melting. This being said, there are dozens of layers to the plot; IMDB boards are buzzing with speculations regarding the tense and utterly maddening last scene (not that I read IMDB boards).

I was impressed with the acting, for the most part. I think that Nolan did a good job of highlighting each of the characters in the ensemble cast. It was interesting to see Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Ellen Page all sharing the same screen, but each carried their role in a mature and thorough manner. I was glad that DiCaprio was able to shake off the rigidity and stiltedness that I believe he brought to Shutter Island. I don’t buy that Inception was the highlight of his career, but it proved that he’s earned the chops that make him a household name.

While the plot and the acting were the two most integral components of this film, there is much to be said for both the writing and directing. Yes, there were a few standard “action movie” lines, but the dialogue, for the most part, flowed naturally and seemed realistic, if not a little bit repetitive. In a similar vein, Nolan’s directing was not clumsy, throwing me back to his earlier film, Memento. His integration of mind-blowing special effects (slow motion, zero-gravity fight scene, an entire city folding into itself, etc.) with touching and realistic moments was tasteful and refreshing in light of recent steps backward made by others in his field.

Inception was definitely worth seeing, and I believe it is the type of movie that will stand up upon further viewings. A good movie is one that stays with me, that my brain has to systematically work through, even in the final moments before I drift off to sleep. Inception did just that. Sweet dreams.  

"What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. Which is why I have to steal it." 

Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM