"Inception" - Oscar Watch 2011

"In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception." - IMDb

Christopher Nolan wrote and directed this mind-bending masterpiece that this humble reviewer almost needed Cliffs Notes to follow properly. Almost like the entire series of Lost: The Complete Collection, I was happiest when I just let go of the idea that I would understand it completely before the end... if ever.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, an architect of the new frontier of corporate espionage, where thieves are able to infiltrate and manipulate dreams to steal information. His unique ability and an ambiguous past make him a wanted man, literally... and he is presented with the bargain if he "plants" an idea rather than steal it, he could have his life, and his children, back.

He is joined on this impossible sounding mission by his right hand guy Arthur, played quite enthusiastically by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, newcomer Ariadne (Ellen Page,) thief and master forger Eames (Tom Hardy,) chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and the grand mastermind of this intellectual heist, Saito (Ken Watanabe.)

Their target is Cillian Murphy's character, Robert Fischer, and the idea that they want to plant in his head sort of works as the secondary plot rather than the main throughline. Technically the protagonist and the antagonist were both Cobb - because his true objective is to overcome vindictive projections of his own mind... which are allowed to run through in the realm of the dream - no matter who was dreaming it.

Certain rules introduced at the beginning of the movie sort of get thwarted mid-way through, but instead of it being distracting we just accept this new set of guidelines. This is a testament of the seamless writing of a brilliant script that may have had some plot holes but kept me so confused I couldn't really tell.

The rules were indeed as complex as the human mind itself, where time and dimension were shifted on their axis and we were all kind of along for the ride.

It was surprisingly a very tense and action-filled movie that reveled in its unapologetic ambiguity. The graphics were stunning, and explain why of Inception's eight nominations, five were technical. This included Cinematography, Art Direction and Visual Effects.

It was like literally losing yourself in a moving M.C. Escher painting, except it pushed the envelope of that concept with choreographed fight scenes in spinning rooms and zero gravity. Landscapes could collapse upon themselves and perception deception will play a few games with what you think you see.

The long and short of it is that Inception works very much like a complicated and undefined work of art that you can't quite figure out but you can't quite look away from either.

I didn't always know what was going on, but I enjoyed the ride.

Kinda like Space Mountain.

I also liked the ending, which will surprise my best friend Jeff to no end. I just really don't think it could have ended any other way and had the same impact.

Just don't ask me to explain it. Because I don't think I can. And really, I think that's part of what makes it so great.

Acting: 4
Writing: 5
Directing: 5
Cinematography: 5
Overall: 4.75

Nominations:

Art Direction: Contender
Cinematography: Contender
Music:
Best Picture:
Sound Editing:
Sound Mixing:
Visual Effects: Contender
Writing (Original): Contender