Potentially Nolan's Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2010)

After three fabulous movies, Christopher Nolan follows them with another winner: "Inception". The idea of a person entering another person's dreams is not a new concept, nor is the concept of dreams within dreams. People entering another's dreams was explored in a film I have yet to see called "Dreamscape", and dreams within dreams was also used in Luis Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and John Landis' "An American Werewolf in London." However, the effective use of these themes has not made this a cliché, so that helps make "Inception" a great film worthy of multiple viewings. "Inception" talks about the idea of entering dreams to see what's going on inside of a person's head. From there, you can unlock secrets or implant thoughts in another's head. This is called "inception." Cobb(DiCaprio) is one of the people who has a job involving inception. But as he enters dreams, he begins to have visions of a woman(Cotillard) entering his dreams, causing him some trouble. What had the potential to be a misstep is actually a masterpiece. Nolan, who also wrote the script, does a very good job of storytelling, character development, and handling dreams. Without a great writer, which Nolan is, a movie involving dreams can be messy when done wrong. Thankfully, "Inception" is not done wrong at all. Though there were a few moments where it wasn't as gripping, the movie still pulled me in. And don't worry, it all makes sense in the end. Leonardo DiCaprio turns in another fabulous performance. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was really good too. He looks a lot like the late Heath Ledger. It was almost eerie in a way, because Christopher Nolan obviously has worked with Heath Ledger in the past, and he's worked with a look-alike now. But that's not relevant. What is relevant is Gordon-Levitt was good in the film. In fact, there wasn't a bad performance out of any of the actors. Cotillard, who won an Oscar for her performance in Olivier Dahan's "La mome" aka "La vie en rose", was great, Ellen Page was great, Ken Watanabe was great. Everybody was just fabulous. This film has moved Christopher Nolan up on my top 20 directors. He's still under Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, M. Night Shyamalan, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino, but that's a really good thing in my opinion. The ending was really sad, and makes you think. I won't give anything away, but trust me, it is mind-boggling. I can foresee this film getting nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound. This is definitely one of the best films I've seen in 2010. It seems as if Christopher Nolan can do no wrong. He already has five movies, including this one, on the top 250 movies on IMDb, and he's become critically acclaimed and loved by audiences. I am incredibly anxious to see what he does with his third "Batman" film. If you like Christopher Nolan, you'll like this film. If you like movies that deal with the subject matter this film deals with, then this is the film for you. However, if you're unfamiliar with a movie like this, then see it anyway. It is worth the 2 and a half hours of viewing.