Inception- a Review

I am really looking for opinions about my movie review I wrote for my English class. I don't know if I gave away too much of the story or if it seems like I'm screaming "I love this Movie." I would really love any suggestions or comments. I know the end needs one more sentence to wrap it up. I know its longer than you'd expect but Please let me know what you think.

Christopher Nolan (Momento, The Prestige, Dark Knight) is back and doing what he does best, making a thought provoking thriller, full of suspense with just a hint of something fantastic. With the film Inception, Nolan creates a refreshing spectacle by taking an idea as simple as “business competition” and playing it against a backdrop of hostile dreams and psychological tension.

Set in the not too distant future, Dream Sharing has been developed as a new training program for the military. Soldiers are able to fight and shoot each other without actually being hurt or killed. The technology has been put to a new and sordid purpose and is now being used as a tool for corporate espionage. Thieves or Extractors are hired to steal business and trade secrets from their competitors. Dom Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) is the most skilled extractor and the overzealous leader of an extraction team. While Cobb is very good at his job, he is also more complex and more vulnerable than he lets on to his teammates. Cobb and his team are hired by a man named Saito to sabotage a rival energy corporation.

The twist is, rather than steal information, Saito wants the team to plant an idea into his competitor’s mind. Cobb is coerced into participating in this one last job with the promise that he will finally be able to return home to America, but a dark secret threatens the success of the operation as Cobb becomes increasingly unable to tell his dreams from reality. Headed by a powerhouse cast, Inception uses drab and doleful surroundings, reminiscent of Gotham City, contrasted with elegance and designer suits, to create a world that even Freud would find fascinating.

Dicaprio is exceptional as he portrays the duality of Cobb’s character. You cannot only see, but understand the conflict that divides his loyalty between the well being of his team and his own guilt and fears. Cobb’s right hand man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) is the straight laced side kick who always tends to follow the rules. He is a nice complement to Dicaprio’s Cobb, and is probably more helpful and understanding than he gets credit for. Gordon Leavitt brings a charm and ingenuity to a role lovingly referred to as a “stick in the mud” and proves that he has leading man potential.

The rest of the ensemble, including quit witted Tom Hardy and the ever likeable Cillian Murphy, fit together nicely as whole, with the possible exception of Ellen Page. Page’s character, Ariadne, is the new architect hired to create the feeling and detail of the dream world. She is the only character strong willed and confident enough to question Cobb. Page’s star power, however, pales in comparison to her costars. She lacks the attitude and maturity to be entirely convincing. While she does a good job, she is surely a questionable choice for the role.

One character who was cast quite fittingly was Marion Cotillard. She is inspired as she portrays Mol, a symbol of Cobb’s troubled history. Mol is dangerous and like Cobb, dynamic and multifaceted. Cotillard demonstrates a desperation and fragility to character that might be seen as strictly short tempered and unstable, making her one of the more interesting characters in the story. While she is frightening, Mol is a key component to piecing the story together. In a way, she is a manifestation of how dangerous the concept of inception can be.

At nearly two and half hours this movie is usually too long for my taste, but you truly do not notice the time passing by. Nolan is never explicit with his work. He makes you work to make sense of it all. He gives you all of the pieces, however subtle they may be, and leaves it up to the audience to put the puzzle together, and weigh in on whether his work was done well. As with many of Nolan’s work, the plot is so intriguing, it draws you in so that as part of the audience, you are focused on the moment. From the first minute of the film, Inception hits the ground running and goes full force all the way to the end. You are thinking about what is on screen and nothing else. That demand for your full attention is the sign of a great story teller, and Nolan is a master. He truly gives a new meaning to the phrase “making your dreams come true”.