a movie that makes average people feel smart for "getting it"

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2010)

I liked this movie, but it is not a psychological thriller that you have to see two or three times to understand. Once was enough. People who are saying they see the world differently after watching it haven't done enough thinking on their own. Vanilla Sky and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind immediately come to mind as movies which do a much better job at blurring the lines between dreams and reality. The movie is great in its execution, and for this it deserves the good reviews it is getting, but the plot is not as deep as some would like to think. I'm not saying this to put the movie down, as I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an excellent action movie, and had a lot more to it than kicks, gunshots and chase scenes, but a psychological thriller it was not. Anytime it came close to getting you there, it returned to the action before delivering the intellectual goods. Perhaps, to make up for lack of a more developed plot, it was forced to break into action at certain points to distract the viewer from completing the thought, lest suspension of disbelief be lost. Let me also add that it is high time to give DiCaprio a break. At one time he wasn't much more than a pretty face, but I believe we need to recognize that he has developed into a fine actor.