Tuesday night my friend Kevin and I went to Pittsburgh to see Inception, a movie that peeked my interest since the first trailer. I love Christopher Nolan. I love his cerebral style and his ability to write with such incredible depth. I also love Leonard DiCaprio. Kevin, on the drive home, mentioned that DiCaprio could be the next Paul Newman, a dedication I always reserved for the likes of George Clooney, but I gave it some thought. The guy can act, and he can act well. He has a charm that is almost unmatchable, but that charm can only be over shadowed by his sheer gravitas. I honestly feel that could be one of the greats. I want to start off by saying that Inception is no Memento, which in my opinion is Nolan’s finest work. Inception is its own beast. An exploration into the oft-misused science fiction mechanics with the blazing action and incredible shots that only Nolan can create. Call this the child of Memento and The Dark Knight, wonderful action with a deep and multi-layered plot. Now on to the review.
Aside from his forays into the superhero genre, Christopher Nolan has found his niche in cerebral thrillers with films like Memento, Insomnia, The Following, and The Prestige. Each taking on the themes of human perception and the mind as a flawed device, and they do so with beautiful and often thrilling mechanics. Nolan is a genius. His mind is a unique machine that sees the world from several angles at once, like looking through kaleidoscopic glasses. Dissecting, probing, analyzing, toying with reality and perception to create a projection of the subconscious mind. Inception is no exception.
This film will be reviewed to ad nauseum, as it is almost a shoe-in for countless Academy Award nominations, deservedly so. Di Caprio plays Dom Cobb, a man who invades dreams and rummages for whatever he likes. His life is set on a wicked track when Mr. Saito, played by the great Ken Watanabe, hires to place an idea in the mind of his business rival, played by the amazing Cillian Murphy, which will unravel his company. The crew for the job, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Eames (Tom Hardy), and Ariadne (the beautiful Ellen Paige).
Inception could have just be a mind-bending science fiction thriller ala Dark City, that is until we were introduced to Mal, played by the insatiable Marion Cottilard, a mysterious lady with whom Dom cannot seem to get out of his head, literally. This opens up the subplot of Cobb’s mental instability, which takes the movie to another level. How can a man who creates dreams do so with an instable mind?
The plot of Inception is too bombastically precious to ruin any further so I will try to restrain myself from including any spoilers in this review. Let’s just say its pretty damn fun.
What set this film apart from the canonical science fiction fair (ala Dark City and the Matrix) are its notable performances. DiCaprio, as I previously established, is incredible. He plays the brooding anti-hero so well. Dom Cobb is not too unlike DiCaprio’s character in Shutter Island or even Revolutionary Road. But why fix what is not broken right? There are two performances in this film that I was pretty excited about, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. Gordon-Levitt, who I have been clamoring for to play Spider-man for years, needs a film like this to jump into the limelight. He delivers as the cold, sarcastic, and professional Arthur. Gordon-Levitt brings with him tons of talent that helps elevate Inception to another level. His screen time is not obtuse, but I would not be surprised if there is a Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination in this for him, or at least a Golden Globe.
The other performance that takes notice is Tom Hardy. Many have heard me praising the movie Bronson, which stared Tom Hardy as the infamous British prisoner. In Bronson, Hardy plays a sociopath who enjoys violence and punishment, and he does so with power and humor. He is such a joy to watch on screen, and the character of Eames offers the same joy. Eames is a forger. He can impersonate people in a dream to fool the dreamer into believing he is someone from their memory. He is the trickster, and he is so much fun. With a film as dark as this the smallest amount of comedic relief is welcome, and Hardy delivers with the acting chops to back it up too. I hope we see much more of him in the future.
Another aspect of the film that deserves mention is the score. Hans Zimmer has already made his case one of the best, and he can always be counted on to offer a big time score for big time movies, but his Inception score is art. The score is an avant-garde masterpiece of brass and winds that provide a more than adequate backdrop for the powerful action that lies over it. This is Oscar worthy.
Inception is a wonderful film that will hopefully make up for its $160 mil budget so we can see many more big-budget science fiction movies in the future. The spectacular performances, the plot, and the perfect direction and tactical slyness by Christopher Nolan make this the best film of the year. See it, love it, experience it, and think about it. You deserve it.
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