What can’t Christopher Nolan do? He has become one of the most brilliant, creative filmmakers to ever come along. From Memento to The Prestige to The Dark Knight and now to Inception, it almost seems he can do no wrong. He knows how to tell stories that make you feel and think. Nolan has taken summer blockbusters and made them not only entertaining but intelligent and fresh. Some say he’s a genius and I would certainly have to agree at this point. The guy knows what he is doing and knows what he wants.
Inception is quite a mindbender. It takes place in a world where people can get in to your subconscious and pick at your dreams and take ideas from them. Stealing an idea from an individual’s subconscious is called extracting and Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best extractor out there. But he has gotten carried away and has lost everything in the process, including his wife and kids. However, a mystery business man named Saito (Ken Watanabe) offers Cobb a job that he cannot refuse. That one last job and if Cobb is successful, he will be able to reunite with his kids. He has risked everything that is important to him and this is his one chance to get his life back. The life he once had.
This final job will not be easy. It does not involve stealing an idea from the subconscious yet planting one instead. This is called inception and may be impossible to do.It will involve going in to a few layers of a person’s subconscious. A dangerous task that could cost them their life. Cobb’s team consists of Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Eames (Tom Hardy), and the young, recently hired Ariadne (Ellen Page).
Arthur is the Point Man, Eames is the Forger/Impersonator, and Ariadne is the fresh new Architect. And through these characters we learn about the rules and guidelines of getting in to a person’s dreams and the consequences you may face if things go wrong. For example, if you die in a dream then you wake up. But if you get hurt in a dream then you could wake up feeling that same pain because it is in your mind. And there are more of course involving different elements, laws, and the difference in time. It can be a little complicated to comprehend but possible to understand this dream world they work in.
But what most of his team do not know is that Cobb himself can barely control his own subconscious. His dead wife (played by Marion Cotillard) keeps getting in the way, trying to sabotage every operation he does and it keeps getting worse. His memories may cost him and his entire team everything. There is a lot on the line, especially for Cobb and once started, there is no turning back for anyone.
Inception is a complex film that takes it’s time explaining the players and the rules. And then in the second half, it is all about the operation of inception. Going in and trying to get the job done. Cillian Murphy plays Robert Fisher, Jr., who is the mark and is being used to make his father’s empire crumble. His father is sick and dying and it would be up to him to continue the business. But if the idea of him wanting to be different from his father and going in a different direction is planted then it would change everything.
Many call this a masterpiece and that is a strong word to use. You just cannot throw that word around about anything. I must say I do understand why some would think that. Inception is storytelling at its finest and it cannot be refined to just one genre. It is a heist film, a sci-fi film, an action film, a love story. It has everything you would want in a film – a great story and good performances with great action sequences. There’s a little bit of The Matrix, James Bond, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in it. But make no mistake, Inception is a one of a kind experience. It is original and creatively refreshing. But I just cannot call it a masterpiece. At least not right now.
One problem I have is the characters that surround Cobb only serve to Cobb and have no depth of their own. They are just their profession. I am specifically talking about his team: Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne. Ariadne has a little bit of background but not much. And Arthur and Eames are their job titles. Now Levitt, Hardy and Page are good in it but are incapable of making a significant impact on the story.
With that said, Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard are the driving force in the character department. Cotillard is an elegant, talented actress that hits all the right marks in every film she is in. Her character, Mal, has a past and affects Cobb in every possible way, whether it is in reality or in his dreams. There is a mystery within her character that never shows its face. There is a part of her that the audience will never get to see and that makes her that more interesting.
Leonardo DiCaprio has had a wonderful, impressive year so far. Earlier in the year, he was in Shutter Island and being directed by the masterful Martin Scorsese, and now in this film with another master of his craft, Christopher Nolan, behind the camera. DiCaprio makes great decisions about the characters he wants to portray and the directors he wants to tell that story with. And oddly enough, there are quite a few similarities between Teddy Daniels of Shutter Island and Dom Cobb of Inception. Both involving issues with their family and their sanity.
As far as DiCaprio in Inception, he is simply terrific and delivers another stunning performance of 2010. His character has the most depth and the most problems. He is dealing with much more than anyone truly knows or can understand. While he’s great at what he does, it has consumed him. He has created an inescapable life for himself. And he only has one chance of getting out and being free. I believe that DiCaprio will be nominated for an Oscar for one of his two performances this year, whether that be for Shutter Island or Inception, it does not matter. I think it’s time for him to win.
Inception is a definite mind-trip that will have you thinking long after it’s over. I still am. Deciding what is real and what is not is the beauty of Nolan’s creation. This film will show you things you have never seen before. I hate to use another “mind” word but it really is mind-blowing to see on the big screen.
Now for myself, I have been trying to decide if I think Inception is better than Shutter Island. And for right now, I like Shutter Island more almost for the pure reason of feeling more emotionally invested in DiCaprio’s character in Shutter Island than in his character in Inception. The outcome of Shutter Island just hit me harder and affected me more.
But that is not to say Inception is not a great film and one of the best of the year because it is. A great cast with a powerful performance by DiCaprio and Cotillard, and a film that lived up to its expectations and then passed them. It reportedly took Christopher Nolan close to 10 years to write this film and I understand why. It is a lot to think about and be able to take in, but it is so worth it. And all it takes is one scene to change your whole way of thinking. You begin to question everything you have just seen and heard.
Inception is a movie experience that rarely comes around, but when it does you know it. You can feel it.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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