BrockTalk

Dreams vs. reality is a popular concept to explore in Hollywood movies, and Inception may be the best effort yet. With a stellar cast that includes Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, and Michael Caine, and written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight); Inception weaves a maze of a tale that gives the audience just enough information and direction to help navigate their way through the twisting plot while also delivering top-notch action and special effects allowing it a rightful place in the summer movie season.

Inception is not your typical casual summer movie as it requires some concentration on the viewer's part, and while the first 15 to 20 minutes will leave you grasping for some sort of foothold, the masterful direction from Nolan gradually provides the audience with pieces of the puzzle that allows the overall picture to slowly come more into focus. The basic plot involves a heist whereas Dicaprio and his assembled team of dream intruding professionals are hired to plant an idea into a person's subconscious, known as inception. This heist element, however, is really just the plot device that drives the real story involving the Dicaprio character's inner struggle with guilt along. I won't go into further detail on the plot as I couldn't possibly do it justice, and the whole fun of this movie is going along for ride as the movie jumps back and forth between different levels of dream states. What I will say is that Christopher Nolan continues his streak of making great movies, and if this movie fails to get him an Oscar nod this year, as he was snubbed for The Dark Knight, I'm calling heresy.

I'm no psycho-analyst, to be sure, and I'm not entirely sure how logically plausible any of the ideas presented in this movie are, but I don't care. All I know is that I enjoyed the experience too much to nit-pick, and I've always felt that the very best movies are the one's that leave you thinking about them days after you have left the theater, and Inception is definitely one of those movies. I look forward to diving back into the puzzle with a second viewing to see what I missed the first time through.