a wildly effective mind game

Rating: Null/10 (22 July 2010)

Exciting, intricate, cerebral thriller from the one and only Christopher Nolan. DiCaprio-a thief with heavy emotional baggage-is a professional "dream extractor" who obtains inaccessible information from others by penetrating their subconscious mind. With the aid of a motley, high-precision team, he's recruited by powerful businessman Watanabe for his most difficult assignment yet and a definitive shot at redemption...and the hits just keep on coming. Only director Nolan (who captivated audiences with the labyrinthine thriller Memento) could pull this one off, delivering a gripping, perplexing, pulse-pounding, and multilayered story that's rich with emotion and nuance, endlessly inventive ideas, intriguing plot twists, believable characters, and more than enough high-energy action/effects sequences. Film's mind-boggling logic can be confusing-to say the least-even questionable at times, but the script always manages to deliver a new, effective twist to keep you on the edge of your seat. A rich, dazzling, dizzying, and challenging film that requires a careful attention span, and likely repeated viewings. ***½