Inception

*****
Five Stars Out of Five

There is really no easy way to start this review. I generally try to come up with some droll comment that proves how funny, hip, and edgy I am. Today, I can't. I think it's partly because I'm a wreck of a person, and I think it's partly because, no matter what I say, it will never ever be as hip or edgy as the film Christopher Nolan has just released upon the masses.

Once every ten years or so, there is a film released that is wholly unique in it's vision; a film so intensely intelligent that you suddenly ask yourself why you've been slumming it with the Transformers movies, the Iron Man movies, or, heck, pretty much everything else being released in the multiplexes these days. That's not to say that those movies aren't enjoyable or fun (I tend to re-watch those movies quite a bit, as a matter of fact), but sometimes there's just something that's so much better out there that we get to see what the medium of film is truly capable of. Today, I got to see a movie that truly reminded me of what movies are capable of. Today, I had the privilege to view something so truly special that it would be impossible to capture in any other medium and have the same powerful effect on me. That movie, of course, is The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Just kidding. I will never watch that pile of shit! I'm talking about Inception, a movie that I find is incredibly hard to write a review about, because there are no words I am capable of compiling into a coherent sentence that can relay how special I found it to be. I am going to try, really, really hard, to somehow convey the way I feel about this movie, but I am afraid I will fail miserably. I apologize ahead of time.

So, what do you do for an encore after you've constructed the finest comic book adaptation to date? That's the conundrum Christopher Nolan found himself in in the wake of The Dark Knight's enormous success two years ago. By creating something that became a pop culture phenomenon, and crafting a film that expertly blended crime noir with superheros in capes - not to mention directing one of the finest performances in years from the late Heath Ledger - Christopher Nolan painted himself into a bit of a corner. How was he going to be able to come up with another movie that would somehow meet the exceedingly high bar he set for himself with The Dark Knight? Well, the simple answer was he went out and made a movie he'd been working on for 10 years (rumor has it that he started writing Inception when he was directing the mind-fuck classic Memento). I applaud Nolan for this, because he could have played it safe. He could have went right to work on a sequel to the Batman franchise he resurrected from the grave and nobody would have criticized him for it. Instead, he made it hard on himself by deciding his next picture was going to be Inception, a movie which, if not mind-blowingly awesome, would allow him to be crucified on various internet message boards as a pompous ass who bit off more than he could chew, instead of simply giving the fans what they wanted so badly in the form of another Batman flick.

Inception introduces the viewer into a world where certain people have discovered ways to invade our dreams. The goal of the invaders? To steal valuable information for high-priced bidders. The invaders are involved in a sort of corporate espionage where the goal is to infiltrate a person's dream and then extract valuable information which will pay them handsomely. The film doesn't pull any punches, starting off in the middle of a dream. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthuer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are two "dream thieves" attempting to steal information from a powerful individual named Saito (Ken Watanabe). When the extraction hits a snag, Cobb and Arthur attempt to hide from their would-be victim, only to be lured into a more insidious, infinitely more dangerous invasion. Saito wants them to plant an idea into Robert Fischer's (Cillian Murphy) mind. Sounds simple enough, right? But that's not all, in order for this "inception" to occur, the men must make the idea appear to be one of the victim's own thinking, otherwise the idea won't take full effect. The two men then get together a crew of individuals who are able to help them accomplish this goal including Ariadne (Ellen Page), Eames (an outstanding Tom Hardy), and Yusuf (Dileep Rao). The process then unfolds in an amazingly intricate, exciting fashion which is punctuated by one of the best endings in recent memory that will leave people talking for days.

I've attempted to be intentionally vague about the plot, giving the barest-bones synopsis I possibly can in order to preserve the joy of discovering this world for yourself. If I had to describe the movie in only a few words, I would say that it is the first (and likely only) metaphysical heist flick ever made. Nolan and co. do a tremendous job of creating a world where it is possible to enter someone else's dreams, and they do an even better job of organically explaining the rules of this world. With such a high-concept idea as this, it would be easy to screw up and alienate the viewer rather quickly. Instead, Nolan perfectly balances the high-wire act by infusing some amazing action set pieces (that hotel hallway fight scene was incredible), trippy visuals like Paris folding in on itself, interesting characters, and an easy-to-follow-hard-as-hell-to-describe narrative. There's a great sequence early on in which Cobb recruits Ariadne, a woman who has no idea that entering into a person's subconscious is even possible, to his cause. Ariadne brilliantly functions as both an interesting character and a proxy for the audience. She knows as little as we do about this world and it's capabilities, so we get to learn as she does while Cobb explains what is possible, impossible, improbable, and likely to occur in dreams. What could have been a ham-fisted approach which quickly stops the narrative in it's tracks instead becomes a visual feast that did a few things I didn't think were possible in cinema.

Simply put, Nolan has become one of the best directors working in film today. He brilliantly blends high-concept intelligence with characters we give a shit about and amazing action sequences. I can't even think of another director which closely resembles his style - he's not like Spielberg who is the king of popcorn entertainment; he not like Scorsese who can blend every cinematic style throughout the ages to capture the psyche of damaged (and often unsavory) characters; he's not like Tarantino who wants nothing more than to pay the ultimate tribute to film while displaying some of the best dialogue ever heard. He's a wholly unique talent who is confident in his abilities, and also in the intelligence of his audience. He refuses to dumb down his ideas for the audience, and he revels in the ambiguity he leaves them with. He's like the Bizarro-Michael Bay - where Bay only cares about having as many explosions as possible surrounding his one-dimensional characters who are generally as likable as rolling around in poison ivy, Nolan wants us to feel for his characters, to try to understand who they are, and how they came to this point. Michael Bay's filmmaking has a place in the world - there are always going to be people who want to turn their brains off to watch giant robots battle superficially - but it is just disposable. It doesn't challenge you like Nolan's films do, and that's the biggest surprise of all: to watch an exciting, challenging film that has amazing action scenes and even more amazing ideas blended perfectly together is something seen all too rare these days.

The cast is, in a word, exceptional. Leonardo DiCaprio continues to impress as Cobb. Starting with Gangs of New York and Catch Me If You Can in 2002, DiCaprio began to show how talented of an actor he truly is. Like most guys my age, I hated the guy when I was younger because of his role in Titanic, and how every girl within a 300 mile radius of me wanted to bone him, but he's really become one of the best actors of his generation. He acts with his entire body, and there is a scene in Inception in which he really flexes his acting muscles by making him a truly sympathetic individual. Over the past eight years, DiCaprio has grown into a must-see actor, and his role in this only cements his reputation as an absolute marvel in the medium of film. It is no surprise that Scorsese has taken to him like he did to Robert De Niro in the 70's. Then there's Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur. JGL (which is how I will refer to him from now on because his name is a pain in the ass to type) has been a critic's darling for years now, and he's finally going to get some well-deserved recognition in the mainstream. He should really become a hot commodity now, and it couldn't happen to a better actor. He has a cool confidence about him that makes him likable and believable as a bad-ass like Arthur. I've never been a big fan of Ellen Page, mostly due to her role in the hipster douche-fest Juno from a few years back. She was the embodiment of everything I hate about hipster-douches in that film, and she had an uphill battle to win me over. She hasn't done so completely, but her role as Ariadne is a big step in the right direction. The biggest surprise from the cast easily comes in the form of Tom Hardy who plays bad-ass extraordinaire Eames. I've never seen him act in anything before, and he was the highlight here as he deftly combined the physicality his role demanded and a cocky sense of humor in which he belittles Arthur at every opportunity. I expect big things from him, as well. The rest of the cast is filled with recognizable names and faces like Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Berenger (!).

Overall, I can't say much else about the film than has already been said. It's a special kind of flick that only comes along once in a blue moon, and I sincerely hope that it receives the attention it deserves. Christopher Nolan has developed into a wholly unique filmmaker who is capable of such greatness that I can't think of another director from his generation that has made as many great films as he has. Inception was great on every level, and I cannot think of any conceivable fault that it had in weaving it's story. I loved every moment of it. I can't wait to see what Nolan's career produces next, and I will be there opening day for it whenever that happens. But first, I need to go see this fucking movie again.