Nolan is the man!!

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2010)

There are immeasurable deceptions of "Inception" which will make your freaky-fried mind go haywire! Mind you, all done with cerebral expertise by Director Christopher Nolan. His visual euphoric masterpiece is one that requires your complete attention. And even if you don't fully digest Inception's complex plot, and most viewers will not even though they might think they have, the film is still far from being a nightmare. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, a dream extractor who specializes in stealing valuable secrets of the subconscious from others during their dream state. Call him another Cobb who has had his share of dreamy hits. OK, call that a corny-on-the-Cobb pun! There goes another one! Anyways, Cobb takes on one last job from Saito, a corporate honcho. However, this one is not to extract but to incept (hence, movie title) an idea into corporate competitor heir Robert Fisher's mind for financial gain. To incept is a more cerebral challenge than to extract, and Cobb has only attempted it once before (which becomes a centerpiece of "Inception"), so therefore Cobb and his dream team are up for a challenging mindful task. The Cobb Dream Team consists of Arthur the dream Setup-man, Ariadne the dream Architect, Eames the dream Forger, and Yusuf the dream I guess Forger #2. Cobb does have some nightmares of his own he wants to extract due to the dreamlike existence of his deceased wife Mal in his extraction and inception jobs. That's about it on providing you information on the "Inception" plot line. Don't want to spoil this dreamy movie for you. DiCaprio was effective as Cobb even though it was a very similar character as the one he recently played in "Shutter Island". The supporting cast of "Inception" was to near perfection. Ellen Page keeps on building an already stellar career with her portrayal of Ariadne the Architect. Joseph Gordon Levitt as Arthur was steady and provided some comical contributions to a heavy-hitter movie. Tom Hardy's work as Eames the Forger was the real deal. There was not one mal thing about Marion Cotillard's deep performance as Mal. Cilian Murphy as Fisher, Ken Watanabe as Saito, and Tom Berenger as Fisher assistant Browning also provided "Inception" some positive corporate-character thespian contributions. But most of all, "Inception" was Christopher Nolan's vision! His direction was a cinematic magnum opus! His screenplay was an intense maze of cerebral challenges. He was the MVP of "Inception"!!! And I hope that is the perception of the Academy and therefore finally nominate him for a Best Director Oscar. The technical Nolanders also deserve kudos! I am dreaming of Oscar nominations also for Wally Pfister's cinematography, Lee Smith's editing, and Frank Walsh & Co.'s art direction. But it is the Zimmerman himself, music score maestro Hans Zimmer, that I think has the Oscar in the bag. His pulsating score is a pivotal player throughout the entire film and I just cannot envision a better score in any other movie this year! Even though I slightly favor Nolan's "Memento" to "Inception", this is still worthy to be called another Nolan extraordinaire piece of work! Dream on if you think "Inception" will not linger in your mind for days to come! ***** Excellent