You know what’s crazy? I’ll tell you what’s crazy!
INCEPTION
The movie is a rocket sled of film making that blasts you forward through a provocative story in an innovative cinematic landscape.
The movie is written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who directed Bat Man The Dark Knight. The director’s dreams ended up on paper, so that he could put them on film. Nolan should take a bow for his conception of inception. It is a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th that leaves the crowd wanting more.
Leonardo DiCapprrio is the protagonist in this sci-fi mind bender that reveals itself to the audience in multiple dream scapes.
The movie is expertly crafted and superbly acted. The visuals are cutting edge and flawless. When the city of Paris folds in upon itself, the film breathes and allows it to happen. It is spectacle, and jaw dropping, but it is also integral to the story line.
And yes, it is the story, ITS ALWAYS THE STORY, that drives this film from beginning to end.
I won’t give it away for you, but I will say the film concludes and there is a sense of satisfaction, but also a question mark. When the last frame faded to black, every single person in the packed theater uttered a collective; AAGRHHHHH!
And then in the darkness of the credits, while we were still shuffling down the stairs, our legs numb from 148 minutes of cinematic splendor and 30 minutes of unnecessary Fandango commercials, I heard the discussions begin. People weren’t waiting to get to the neon light of the lobby to ask questions and reveal their likes and dislikes. Movie goers were trying to unravel the mystery while still enveloped by the black theater and closing credits’ dramatic score.
The movie is about espionage where spies break into industrialists dreams to steal secrets and plant ideas. Like the Matrix broke new ground and made you think about what was real and what was a dream, so does inception.
If you plan to smoke dope or drink booze prior to the movie, stay home. Hold off on the OxyCodone kids, you will need your wits about you for this one. This movie, while entertaining is a visual cross word puzzle. Try putting a child’s crib together with directions from China while on LSD and you are starting to understand how futile seeing this movie in an altered state would be.
Inception, moves quickly, scene to scene, explaining necessary nuggets throughout. Sometimes the background sound is so real, the character’s words are lost, and you have to pay attention to the punctilious nuances of the story.
If you take a potty break, you’re done. You might as well go climb Mt. Everest without a Sherpa cause you will be lost. Eat that popcorn quietly because your own chewing will cause you to miss something.
At one point, 2 men behind me began talking. Maybe about the movie, maybe about how small their penises are. I couldn’t tell. Either way it was starting to piss me off. When I saw Knight and Day earlier this year; “my penis is smaller than your penis” meaningless banter wouldn’t have made any difference. Trying to follow a Tom Cruise movie, except maybe Eyes Wide Shut, is not that cerebrally challenging. That was the case for Knight and Day. I mean really, Tom rides motorcycle, kills a few bad guys, ends up nailing Cameron Diaz. Easy, straight forward, fun. I get it.
But during Inception, if anyone behind me wants to measure manhood in the dark, turn around and tell them to shut the hell up.
In this rubex cube of a movie, full attention is important. Cell phones going off and people talking make following the plot as easy as taking the S.A.T. with a chain saw juggler handing out number two pencils.
Like the Matrix that suggests alternative realities, Inception offers multiple dreams within dreams within dreams. And that’s the trick of this movie.
At one point the actors are playing different roles in multiple settings, all crucial to the ultimate reality. As an audience member you are asked to remember; OK that’s dream sequence one. He’s doing that, but it’s affecting the actors in dream sequence three. And so on.
Leonardo DiCapprio has come a long way from Titanic. He seems to specialize in believable characters with deep dark secrets that affect how the story unfolds.
Inception is fun and entertaining, but long. Could they have cut it someplace? they always can. Did I want them to? not really. I was just glad I pee’d before I took my seat.
I give Inception FOUR CRAZY STARS, but go with your mind clear and ready to follow along, because if you get lazy, you’ll miss a clue. If you don’t engage yourself, when the movie starts operating on multiple dream states, you’ll be left in la la land yourself.
And that is crazy