Did it blow her mind? Read on to find out...
I was prepared to be dazzled by Inception because it had scored 100 percent on RottenTomatoes.com after early screenings, and my expectations were not only met, but exceeded. The Tomatometer rating has since dropped to about 90 percent, but don't let that put you off. Inception is the type of movie that I want to see when I go to the theater: one that is not only clever, but also mindblowing.
Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio, "Shutter Island") is a trained thief of an unusual kind: he breaks into people's minds and steals information from them while they are sleeping. He misses his two children, however, and when he is offered a case by a businessman (Ken Watanabe, "Memoirs of a Geisha") who promises to get him back to the United States, he takes it. Instead of stealing information, though, he wants Cobb to use inception, and plant an idea into the head of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy, "The Dark Knight"), heir to a massive business empire. Cobb's associates are skeptical that it can be done, but with the right people and "architects," Cobb assures them that it definitely can.
Cobb's associates reads like a "Who's Who in Hollywood Right Now": Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("500 Days of Summer"), Ellen Page ("Whip It"), Tom Hardy ("Bronson"), and Dileep Rao ("Avatar"). Marion Cotillard ("Nine") plays Mal, Cobb's wife, who was having problems relating to reality after he shows her the dreamworlds in which he works. In addition, veteran Michael Caine ("Is Anybody There?") has a small role as the grandfather to Cobb's children.
The first ten or twenty minutes of the movie are confusing, but it makes more sense near the end. Director Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight") entrances us with the dreamscapes that DiCaprio and Page's characters delve into. At the screening I attended, the projector broke down with about half an hour of the film left (and in the middle of an action scene, no less), the audience was abuzz; we were very relieved when they fixed the problem and were able to screen the rest of the film. I barely checked my watch during this movie, even though it clocks in at a lengthy 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I think the reason for this is that "Inception" is like an action film combined with a heist film combined with sci-fi, which turns out to be a great combination.
Yes, definitely see this movie. I am not a big sci-fi fan but I like it when it is done well, and this is done extremely well. The plot is very interesting and the subplots are just as thrilling; the relationship between Cobb and his wife, Mal, in particular, is intense and is explored in detail. "Inception" is a roller coaster ride from start to finish, and this is one ride you don't want to miss.
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Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films.