Spinning Top

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2010)

Okay, the problem with picking apart this movie for plot holes is that you never know if those were intended as part of the world Christopher Nolan has created for us. As I watched the movie, certain things did bother me. The men coming after Cobb in Mumbassa was plausible. And Saito showing up was also plausible. We can assume that both parties were following Cobb around, so when stuff started happening Saito decides to pull up in a car and save Cobb. That doesn't have to be dream world rules to happen that way. One part that did bother me was Robert Fisher's character getting onto a plane in first class, being the head of a huge company empire, and he didn't have anyone with him. No bodyguards, no assistants. That bothered me, and I thought that was very unrealistic. At the least, his uncle would have been on the plane with him going over some business. So at that point, I just chalked it up to that whole plane scene was unrealistic because it was part of the dream. Fast forward to the end. Cobb is seen spinning the top (actually, when you look, it initially looks like it's about fall). Later when he sees his kids, and you still see the top spinning I came to the conclusion: Maybe it was all Cobb's wife's dream. Think about it, the spinning top was the totem she created for herself, so it stands to reason she was dreaming about her husband 'getting out' and seeing their kids again. But the totem could also be a dream fake. We see the other character's totems, but they aren't even used by those characters, so they were kind of pointless. The only totem we are shown constantly is the one that was Cobb's wife's. Also, if it was Cobb's totem, then how did those other people know he had it on him? and how could Saito spin it, if only Cobb knew about it's physicality? In the end, this movie was entertaining, but I don't think it really means anything. I came away from it thinking it was a cross between The Matrix and Shutter Island, the latter of which Leo also starred in. The idea of the different levels of dreaming was interesting, and the time factor was also cool, but the movie should not be over analyzed. It was just a nice 2 plus hours of entertainment.