Inception

The dream. One may not link to reality, yet may in some way reflect the culmination of thoughts and practices an individual endures over the course of their lives. Dreams may outline the psychoanalytical description of our inner character: one that may never visit the outer, physical shell of our bodily form. But what if we place the body inside of the mind? Or better yet: another mind inside of a mind? Christopher Nolan's latest film, Inception, rigorously challenges the boundaries of consciousness to a point of (timed) exponential limits.

The film begins with Dicaprio's character, Cobb washing up onto a shore, lying on his stomach in the sand. A man with a rifle (presumably a guard) pokes at Cobb and calls for other men to capture him. Next, we find Cobb inside of an elegant room, dinning in a soup bowl across from an older gentleman. As unsure of Cobb as is the guard, we the audience are unfamiliar with Nolan's introduction, which takes place during a time where Cobb is aged slightly, and ragged. We automatically assume this to be a "foreshadowing," yet before we can locate our thoughts, Nolan directs the film into a different scene, taking place in the same setting with new, and younger, characters. This scene introduces Mal (Cotillard), Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), and what appears to be a youthful Saito (Watanabe), dressed in delicate attire, discussing the aspects of dreamworld information insurance. After negotiations go awry, Nolan introduces the film's first action sequence, sending Cobb on a chase through the antique inner landscape of Saito's mind.

Another direction change occurs in which Nolan moves the scene into a small house down the road from a rioting mob, in what presumably is a third world country setting. What's fantastic is that Nolan doesn't end there. We learn that this setting is merely another dream created by a somewhat amateur dream architect, and ultimately Nolan pulls us from this dream, transporting to "real time" train scene where we find Cobb, Arthur, Saito, and Nash (Haas), all tied into a game console-looking box inside of a brief case. Is this the true reality?

Nolan's daring introduction for Inception takes the audience through four different settings and time spaces in a matter of fifteen minutes or less. And upon the first time watching this film, I believe that the magnitude of those opening sequences are nearly unrecoverable. This is the only issue that audiences may experience with the film while watching it for the first time. The layers of setting are so obscure and abrupt that an audience may never come to grasp what mental and real states the characters (or even themselves) are in throughout the film. Ultimately, one comes to rely on Nolan's extended time spent on the operations and preparations for the inception that is requested of Cobb in exchange for him to see his family. These moments in the film where a majority of the "dream-team" are together plotting their mission (Hardy as Eames, Rao as Yusuf, and Page as Ariadne) are the strongest scenes of actual viewer connection and comprehension. Specifically, Ariadne's scenes in the film further enhance the connection between Cobb's subconsciousness and the reality of what is occurring for audience, both literally and within the story.

Without Ariadne, none of the inception partners quite fully understands the heft and consequential danger they are in with Cobb's subconscious creation of Mal. And in all truth, the film feels flat without Ellen Page's charm and quarks. The sheer youth in appearance and energy that she brings to the film is just enough to counterbalance the amount of testosterone and mid-life crisis that occurs with the other, male characters. And Mal is just as bad as the males in the film. Her desire to sabotage the team's missions, including her immense psychosis only adds layers of confusion and aggravation to the story.

On a lighter note, Nolan's action sequences are just as stellar as they have always been. The rotational room fight scene, van and car chase over the bridge in the rain, snow prowls, and gun fights in the military center are all precise and polished, leaving no room for flaw or question concerning their importance.

Finally, the plot and ultimate ending to the film are what deliver the knockout punch for Inception. Nolan's plot, as well as what the entire spectacle involving the inception Cobb needs to place inside of someone's mind concentrates on Robert Fischer's (Murphy) relationship with his father, played by Postlethwaite. The great length of intervening with Fischer's fatherly relationship relies on a business concern that Saito has with the Fischer family's enterprise. Rather than allow Robert Fischer to monopolize his father's industry, Saito needs an intervention to occur, in order to make Robert come to the (false) realization that his father wanted him to start his own franchise, and not continue in the family name. Nolan's plot is brilliant, and pushes the business aspect of "dream insurance" to levels that society would ultimately expect, and considering that the audience has just been acquainted with intrusion into a dream scape, Nolan pulls off his plot remarkably well, which ultimately makes clear and coherent sense.

Open or closed, Inception's ending draws response in gasping faction. Quite possibly the most wonderful element of the film is this final scene, leaving audiences pondering whether or not Cobb's desired goal has been achieved. And ultimately, the conversations that will take place after the film has ended and people have begun walking to their cars, discussing dreams, will continue and will never disappear.

Inception runs for 148 minutes and is rated PG-13.