An emotionally cold film that is presented in a convoluted manner - I'm more impressed with Nolan's ambition than his execution.

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2010)

I had the worst headache after watching this and I was left disappointed as while an ambitious film, it left me wanting. Fair enough to those that understood it completely initially, but to me, it left me perplexed, particularly the 'levels' subplot.
The acting is pretty solid all round(DiCaprio's really grown as an actor), but the plot never really seems to reach it's full potential. Part of the problem is the film is quite talky, therefore spending time establishing the rules so it's like you're cramming for test as you are forced to remember many of them to make sense of it all, which for me, is easier said than done, especially when the plot gets more intricate. It's as if Nolan has given you a dreaded 1000 pieces jigsaw puzzle but not all the pieces are there.
The plot hinges on emotional involvement with DiCaprio's character and Murphy's one, but I really don't care about either. This film ostensibly a tale of a man trying to be at peace with himself in his mind, but when that fails to move me, I'm left with a mostly empty film with good set-pieces but somewhat baffling plotting.
Cinematography was nice, the cast were usually smartly dressed and it had an aptly used slow-mo shot and that zero-gravity fight scene. Nolan seems to have an old Hollywood glamour aesthetic, which is pleasing enough.
The score with loud horns used intermittently was fitting and memorable - Dream is Collapsing is particularly good.
Overall: A good-looking, well acted and well scored film that is let down by a cold feel, relating to the main character's conflict and at times, mechanical, confusing plotting. The whole 'entering other people's dreams' plot isn't original, but I was hoping Nolan would bring something interesting to the table.
This is compelling but for me once the layers are shown, it got confusing to keep track. I admire Nolan's ambitions for trying to make an intelligent film, but this felt as if Nolan was running a marathon and I was walking as fast as I could to keep up.
The audience in my screening agreed as well, with variations of 'what on earth?!' chorused around the cinema. Befuddled is an understatement. Re-watches may help me decipher parts of it better, but I still think it's no masterpiece some claim it to be.
This summer's blockbusters have been pretty bad so any film that at least tries can look better than it probably is. Toy Story 3 isn't perfect, but handles mature themes better and has far more emotional involvement - 6/10