Inception (PG-13)

Remembering that when this movie was in the box office last summer, that a majority of the reviews labelled it ‘confusing’ or ‘hard to follow,’ I rented “Inception” expecting to be confused, but hopefully drawn in, given the premise. What I found, however, was not a movie to confound the viewer, but a wonderfully thorough escapist experience with a solid story, solid actors, and solid finish.

“Inception” was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and the solid script and performances he was able to achieve from his cast are a testament to his abilities. Nolan, of such movies as “The Dark Knight,”and  its predecessor “Batman Begins,” seems to be revisiting an earlier film, “Momento,” in the writing of “Inception.” In that movie, a man with profound memory loss tries to piece together the mystery of his murdered wife, told through notes he leaves to himself, while the movie plays from the end to the beginning.

The story of “Inception” centers on a mysterious intellectual thief named ‘Cobb’ (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who makes his living by breaking into people’s minds while they sleep, to steal corporate secrets from high-power executives while they are dreaming. He is assisted in his mission by his seeming friend and long-time partner Arthur (played by Joseph Gordon Levitt).

It is alluded that Cobb is running from some high-power enemies, while also trying to clear his name for a wrongly-accused crime (which I will not spoil, for those who have not seen the film). His big break comes when the victim of his latest intellectual heist (Ken Wantanabe) turns the tables on him and presents him with an option: A chance to clear his name by performing ‘Inception’- implanting an idea in a competitor’s mind (Cillian Murphy, playing a man named Robert Fischer), so that the man will decide to break up his father’s company once he passes, giving him free reign over the market.

But there’s one catch: the victim must never know he has been incepted.

From here the story takes a “Oceans 11”- type feel as Cobb assembles a team of men and women adept at the tangles of the mind and intellectual theft from the dream world. He has Arthur. He collects a skilled labyrinth-maker (Ellen Paige, “Juno”), a chemist (Dileep Rao), and a con-man (Tom Hardy, “The Dark Knight Rises“) to help him break into Fischer’s mind and convince him to break up his father’s empire without him knowing.

What the movie does well is to insert you head first into the world that is Cobb, a world where you can manipulate environments, ambitions, thoughts…lives.  Ellen Paige does a wonderful job as the gifted but green maze-maker, who begins to become leery of Cobb when she glimpses his Achilles’ heel- a mysterious woman named Mal who haunts Cobb’s dreams, a woman she discovers to be his wife.

To give away the role that Cobb’s wife plays in the movie is to give away too much. Suffice it to say that she helps to explain Cobb’s actions- but don’t expect to understand it right away. You simply have to watch the entire film. Their interactions are wonderfully done, reminiscent of the tortured longing of the character’s in “Vanilla Sky,” but with a more precise intention.

As Cobb, DiCaprio also does a tremendous job, adding an immediacy to his actions while highlighting a purpose that comes to light more and more as the film progresses.

Supporting characters add to the movie, but I must say that I was very impressed with the performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has become a very accomplished actor of late. In 2005’s “Brick” and now “Inception,” there is no trace of his character from 1999’s “10 Things I Hate About You,” as he has grown into a competent, believable actor.

“Inception,” as a movie, is like the maze it represents within its run-time. It is wonderfully complex, lined with action and a bit of philosophy to boot, and draws you in completely. It is different from other films in that it requires your full attention (and a temporary suspension of disbelief) to follow its premise, but the experience is worth it. Here Nolan presents us with a film that entertains on all fronts. And, like good film tends to do…it makes you think, and wonder what is real, and what is not.

– by Mark Ziobro