(Okay, so… does this mean that when I dream about Russell Crowe and Chris Evans chasing me in my dreams, they really just want one of my ideas - and not me? Bastards!)
CAST: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger.
DIRECTOR: Christopher Nolan
NOTE: Minor SPOILERS this time. And just the barest of plot and set-up and critical discussion. That’s the best way to enjoy INCEPTION…
“Is all that we see or seem,
Nothing but a dream within a dream?”
- Edgar Allan Poe
Some movies have a way of just getting under your skin, of making you feel that the world around you has shifted and that you are now moving on a separate plane of existence from everyone else - even though you can still see and hear them, and they, you. In other words, some films just have a surreal and haunting dream-like quality. A couple of examples would be Dario Argento’s INFERNO (1980) which filled the screen with such hallucinatory and hypnotic images that you felt just as trapped by them as the characters. Another would be the underrated and largely unseen Pierce Brosnan-Lesley Anne Down supernatural chiller NOMADS (1985), which was the cinematic equivalent of being plunged into a murky pond and not being allowed to surface ever again.
These films, and some others I haven’t mentioned, had the capacity to make you doubt whether anything you’re seeing is real - or a dream. Or, as our friend Eddie Allan Poe so eloquently opined, “a dream within a dream.” Now, with the arrival of Christopher Nolan’s eagerly-awaited INCEPTION, two things are confirmed: (1) our waiting was worth it, and (2) nothing is more of a mind-fuck than dreaming within a dream.
The plot revolves around “dream extractor” Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio, amazing) who specializes in invading the sub-conscious minds of sleeping people to “steal” ideas from them. Of course, this is isn’t something he can do alone. He needs the services of various folks to be able to pull these “heists” off.
There’s Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, great and focused), whose some sort of researcher that digs up all the relevant info on the targets so that Cobb and the team know as much about the target’s subconscious as everyone else. There’s Eames (Tom Hardy, charming and sexy), who can shape-shift within the dream to assume the identity of other people to help fool the target. There’s Yusuf (Dileep Rao, funny and fresh), the chemist new to the team who is an expert on sleep drugs that help control how deep and how long the targets - and the team - stay under.
Most important, however, is the architect who shapes and creates the world of the dream, which the target then fills with his/her subconscious. The architect is probably the most crucial position, and can make or break an operation. Cobb himself was an architect before a tragedy resulted in (1) the loss of his wife, (2) separation from his children, and (3) having to live on the run as a fugitive/expatriate trying to make money with dream extraction jobs - and figure out a way to get back to his children in the U.S.
Unfortunately, these turn of events resulted in Cobb’s inability to continue creating effective environments for the dreamer. It also has turned his wife Mal (Marion Cotillard, simply hypnotic) into some sort of vengeful wraith that shows up in his dream operations to sabotage his and his team’s efforts at every turn. By the way, the fact that she’s named Mal is not a coincidence: e.g., malicious, maladjusted, malcontent, and malefic. See where I’m going with this?
Long story short, Cobb’s team needs a new architect. They find one in Ariadne (Ellen Paige, still looking eerily like a middle-schooler but delivering an authoritative performance), who is understandably dazzled by the new world that she is entering - literally and figuratively. Even more, Cobb tells the others that he’s never seen anyone pick up the intricacies of “dream-building” the way Ariadne has. But he has no idea just how much of a quick study she really is.
After a couple of sinister encounters with Mal while “shared-dreaming” with Cobb, Ariadne immediately deduces that Mal is a representation of Cobb’s guilt over the mysterious event that destroyed their family. And until he faces her, Ariadne warns him, she will continue to stalk him from dream to dream, destroying his carefully laid out plans - and endangering everyone else on the team. Cobb, however, remains tight-lipped about his dark past.
Sensing that he needs a guardian angel to counteract Mal’s influence, Ariadne accompanies Cobb and the rest of the team onto their next assignment - which is the most crucial one, as it offers Cobb the hope of reuniting with his children. By the way, those of you well-versed in Greek mythology will recognize Ariadne to be the resourceful woman who helped Theseus find his way out of the Minotaur’s maze. And Cobb's past is one killer maze that he is trapped in - with Mal as an infinitely more beautiful, but no less deadly, Minotaur, running amok within it.
The new job is offered to them by Saito (Ken Watanabe, the best thing to come out of Japan since sushi), a Japanese tycoon who doesn’t want Cobb and his team to extract an idea, but rather, plant one. This is called Inception, and although Arthur adamantly says it can’t be done, Cobb assures him that he has successfully done it before - but won‘t say to whom. Saito’s promise to pull some strings, if the job is successful, so that Cobb can be reunited with his kids is the driving force behind Cobb’s actions.
The target of this assignment is Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), son of mega-tycoon - and Saito’s rival - Maurice Fischer (Pete Postlethwaite). See, Saito wants Cobb and co. to “incept” the idea into Robert’s head that he dissolve his dying father’s company - thereby allowing Saito to be rival-free. To say any more about what happens next would be to deny you the pleasure of watching this movie unfold - and the pleasure of unveiling its surprises on your own. All I’ll say is this: Cobb’s team goes into action - and so does Mal. Now… see what happens for yourself.
BUT, SERIOUSLY: I awaited INCEPTION with mounting eagerness as its release date approached. Buoyed by an increasingly phenomenal series of trailers that culminated in a final one that literally made me forget to breathe, I could hardly wait to see it. Then, when a good friend managed to score some advanced screening passes, I went through the roof. Getting a chance to see INCEPTION three days before the rest of the world? Sign. Me. Up.
Unfortunately, the Universe tested my so-called character by creating a conflict that had to make me choose between (1) helping out a friend in need , and (2) turning my back on that friend and seeing INCEPTION. Not to paint myself as a person of sterling moral character (anyone who reads this blog knows otherwise), but I chose to help out my friend and miss the screening.
And it didn’t bother me, because I knew I’d still get to see the movie when it came out on Friday. However, what did bother me were the reports that I got from my other friends who did attend the screening. Suffice it to say, they were not impressed with the film. Their complaints were centered on a couple of things: (1) the exposition-heavy script, and (2) the lack of any high stakes by gambling on an industrial espionage angle that most people wouldn’t be able to relate to.
Now, I do agree about the first part. In fact, the reason that I gave INCEPTION a ****½ rating instead of a perfect ***** one is because of that exposition. While the information is interesting and necessary, there are moments in the film where scenes almost dip into a “talking heads” scenario. Fortunately, the actors are skilled enough in their delivery, and the material so engaging, that you actually find yourself leaning in with interest to ensure you catch everything. And although I feel that Christopher Nolan could have polished these exposition scenes a little more, I’m also glad he didn’t try to have us put things together too much on our own - which would have been a headache, given how complex the scenario is. With a plotline as intricate as this one, it’s almost unavoidable to find yourself dealing with a tidal wave of info.
And, let’s face it, at least the exposition isn’t as clunky and of a “WTF?” quality like that of PREDATORS, where the ridiculously omniscient hero played by terribly miscast Adrien Brody would unaccountably pull revelations out of his ass with the regularity of an Express bus. At least in INCEPTION, you could understand how the characters know what they know. In PREDATORS, the hero is inexplicably like a walking oracle that just won‘t shut the fuck up already.
And concerning the second quibble, the stakes raised (or not) in INCEPTION - well, I have to disagree. Yes, the corporate espionage plot thread isn’t something that most of us can necessarily relate to. However, what we can relate to is the haunting need to come to terms with losing a loved one. What we can relate to is the guilt that comes from wondering what we could have done differently to save them. What we can understand is the burning need to be reunited with those that we think we will never see or connect with ever again. What we can fathom is that endless hunger for a chance at redemption and reconciliation.
Those are the needs that are at the heart of Cobb - the hunger that he's trying to feed. Let’s not forget - this isn’t a story about Saito putting his competitors out of business. This is a story about Cobb putting his ghosts and demons to rest - and finding his way back to reality, to a place where life is for living - and not dreaming the dreams of others. Cobb and Mal’s conflict is at the damaged heart of INCEPTION. And this emotional core pays off wonderfully in the film’s final frames. So… in my humble opinion, the stakes are just fine. The corporate espionage angle is just the wrapping on the present. The gift inside is Cobb’s journey out of the dark maze.
And what a maze INCEPTION is…. But don’t take my word for it. Go see it now. The cast - led by the astonishingly terrific DiCaprio (believe me, that's a compliment)- is hypnotically-talented (and hypnotically-gorgeous, especially Tom Hardy and Marion Cotillard and Ken Watanabe), the action is dynamic, the music score by Hans Zimmer is a treasure to seek out immediately (picked it up at Silver Platter’s right after the showing), and the ending of the film will linger with you - long after you’ve left the theatre….
….like a dream within a dream.
