Elegantly plotted sci-fi / caper film - REQUIRES full attention

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2010)

I actually got to a movie yesterday - the second or third in over a year at these prices ($12.95 for a Matinée in Manhattan!!!) and the first that actually gave its full money's worth - something called INCEPTION with nicely understated work (in a very overstated movie) from Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt guided by the well promoted director, Christopher Nolan, of one of those awful Batman films, DARK KNIGHT. This was MUCH better for broader (ie. older) audiences. As a writer, Nolan has come up with a far subtler, better developed idea than the oft cited by younger viewers MATRIX films, and all in a single satisfying work.
A lot of print critics, while raving about the new film, said it was "hard to follow" (it's a science fiction/caper film riffing on themes first well touched on in DREAMSCAPE and PAYCHECK, ramping the concept up several levels by taking the characters and the audience down three or four levels within the guided dream/subconsciousness of the "mark") but I'm not sure I'd trust the mental facilities of anyone who can't follow it. It's most elegantly laid out if you have affection for the science fiction or caper film genres and the wit to pay attention.
It would be easy to want to resist anything this heavily designed with such spectacular CGI effects (Paris folded over on itself, a freight train turning up in the middle of a busy street or a hotel suddenly going weightless) just because of those effects, but Nolan for the most part keeps the mood and lighting light and even better, explains the rules of his created worlds with meticulous care - and even calls his characters when they violate the standards they have laid out (DiCaprio has a complex back story revealed at the perfect pace through the movie). It makes for a thrill ride for those who do pay attention and give themselves over to the fantasy. INCEPTION will almost certainly have its greatest impact on the big screen where the viewers can lose themselves along with the characters in the visuals, but the plotting is so elegant, I suspect it will still work in the inevitable video release.
The film is not flawless. The third level of mountain-top/dreamscape "security" displays a certain failure of imagination and, while exciting in a James Bond reminiscent way, isn't entirely worthy of the other levels of the puzzle. Further, the film DOES require the full attention of the audience to catch all the meticulously placed clues and explanations - especially in the opening which pays off fully near the end and the justification of the "good guy" nature of the core caper which is all too briefly dropped in mid-film. Stick around through the credits for a full throated playing of the Piaf song used so subtly and well in the film - there's one final audio trick that's a perfect coda to the film.
Still, it's all there and the film is legitimately a thinking person's extravaganza. A sci-fi/caper film which challenges the giddy, Terry Gilliam heights of a BARON MUNCHAUSEN visually and blissfully succeeds. Don't bother with it if you're sleep deprived or have no patience for puzzles, but if you like a good caper film (like the non-sci-fi Joseph L. Mankiewicz HONEY POT or any of the more recent OCEAN'S... films) and are willing to be challenged, this is a great summer treat.