A test of wits

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2002)

I have read quite a few of the reviews about this film and perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't see the movie as most seem to...
SPOILERS=>
Everything revolves around the cryogenic advert on television. The characters and the dreams. They all make regular appearances throughout the film. You are lead down a nicely constructed path of clues and twists... Finally once you get to the end it's nicely explained and wrapped up for you... or is it?. The one thing that shocked me was her voice at the end. It was incongruous. It made no sense. What does make sense, at least to me is that he fell asleep on her couch and everything between that moment and the last scene was a nightmare. He was stressed out, being stalked and was already prone to nightmares, as shown in the first moments of the film. his guilt over shafting his friend (with P cruz), and the shabby way he treated his casual partner plus the creepy images and concepts of cryogenics make a perfect pot to make such a twisted dream.
When his eye opens to P cruz's voice in the last moment, when you expect some vision of doctors and the future, it's the final kicker. Like the punchline of a brilliant joke. I fooled you is what Crowe is saying. The over explained ending which everyone calls "hollywood" and over done was nothing more then a trap for those not paying attention to the brilliant understated second of film at the end! What a kicker!
I don't usually post to these sort of forums but I felt by the sheer volume of people that went into this film expecting Hollywood, then came out complaining about it being confusing, and claiming that it was too Hollywood! It's not a new story, Larry Niven, plus many other sci-fi authors have dealt with this subject since the turn of the century. The realism of dreams, the suggestion that the reality we live in is nothing more then a dream of man.
what a movie. I'm going to see it again... I must confirm my theory, I must know. Wheeeeeee
Ian