Review: INCEPTION * * * *

The possibilities of our own dreams are an amazing notion. Not our goals - our dreams. The parts of our brains we barely use while we're awake. In a rested state we can re-write the rules of time and space and witness some truly amazing things. As one character in INCEPTION puts it:

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. "

Problem is, a single idea - unchained from rules of a waking world - can also lead to a freefall into the dark unknown.

Here's the thing - what made me enjoy inception the most was the effort I put into avoiding plot details in advance. So allow me to give you the broad strokes and we'll move on. Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) are contractors who can exhume secrets from a person's sub-conscience. They are approached by a wealthy and powerful businessman named Saito (Watanabe), with a proposal.

The proposal is simple: If they can get ideas out of a person's mind...is it possible to plant an idea into a person's mind?

INCEPTION will not be all things for all people. It has been built up, almost from the first glimpse, as a beacon of awesome. It has been burdened by many as the hope to save this summer from being a complete write-off at the movies. I'm here to warn you first and foremost:

No - INCEPTION is not the must-see crowd-pleaser that the hype machine would have you believe.

The film is tremendously complicated, very intricate, and deeply metaphysical. It has very little interest in the real, and instead wants its audience to lean back and imagine possibilities to the enth degree. matter of fact - it demands it, since this is where the movie is going to play out. If you aren't interested in going to this very far-reaching recess of philosophy, you're in for a rough ride. I, for one, was fascinated by the construct the film offers, and thus felt very rewarded when the lights came up.

The most fascinating element of this story is the nature of what happens when one finds themself in a dream-within-a-dream. What INCEPTION would have us believe, is that it's not just a matter of waking up twice. That indeed lowering ourselves further and further into our own subconscious, that the rules change and the stakes increase with every step. Rules of physics begin to crumble like sandcastles and time exponentially increases. These may seem like advantages, but the gate swings both ways.

However, worse than either of those two dangers, is the notion that the deeper we dig into those dark dusty corners of our mind, the more powerful our own dark thoughts become. You know those things you put to the back of your brain because confronting them is just too painful? Well like a blip on the horizon, the closer you get to them the more daunting they become.

'Course if that sort of philosophy isn't your beat, you could always just enjoy the cool fights and pretty pictures.

While this might make the film more appealing in these summer months when we all want to shut off our brains and gorge on fluff, to do so is a disservice to the film. On the surface, INCEPTION is a heist film in reverse (the score is putting something in the vault). However, the job becomes so much more difficult when we see just how much Cobb is up against. Worse yet, they are obstacles of his own doing. And in a wink of self deprication, we continually hear a song about a lack of regrets.

Many of the set pieces for INCEPTION are amazing to behold, and the knowledge that so very many of them were practical effects only heightens the experience. While I have refrained from the Christopher Nolan love-fest that has been buzzing for the last few weeks, I must indeed hand the man credit. There are many lesser talents in Hollywood who would see these ideas in a script and immediately think "digital effects". To see real actors on real sets do what we see them do is becoming very scarce in Hollywood...and it takes some real guts to pull it off.

The other key to this film is in the casting. Selling these metaphysical theories is no small task, so INCEPTION has stacked the deck with some of the best actors working. While they all execute, a lot of credit must be given to Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard. Their roles required a bit more weight, and a lot more penitence. The core of these characters almost begs the actors playing them to wade into melodrama. Instead, DiCaprio and Cotillard both draw from a place of real trouble, giving the film that much more weight.

So once again - if you are looking for this summer's coolest movie, keep looking. There are moviegoers who will find this movie slow, strange, and confusing as all get-out. If you're prone to such spells, this film is not for you. INCEPTION has no interest in wooing you with sizzle; it's too busy feeding you the steak.

What did you think? Feel free to leave comments with any thoughts or reactions on INCEPTION.