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 Inception is a really well done flick about dreams. Leonardo DiCaprio is solid as always. The funny thing is that at heart, Inception is sort of really dumb, yet it is done with such effort, acumen, craftsmanship and style, we buy into it, if not for a moment, but for a movie.
DiCaprio is Dominic Cobb, a corporate spy of sorts. He is tasked with secretly extracting commercial information from the sleeping minds of his targets while they are asleep and naturally, dreaming. Interesting premise. Solid cast including an appearance by the venerable Michael Caine. Other first rate actors include Tom Berenger, Ken Watanable and Ellen Page, of Juno fame. However, considering the impressive cast, interesting story, high budget, good effects, something just quite falls short in this film.
I shouldn't say "something" becuase as a critic, I should be able to pinpoint it. However, what makes this film fall short, is really an intangible.
I think its biggest flaw is one of philosophical mortar (I know-what kind of stick up the ass criteria is that). We are told we should care for Leonardo's character and we do. After all, his wife killed herself thinking that if she did so, she would wake up from reality. I guess there is a bit of the Matrix element there. We can feel bad for him in that regards.
Still, think about it. Leonardo and his wife in this film lived for 50 years in their dreams, even though they were out for merely a short amount of time in reality. Wow. That is still awfully selfish isn't it? They loved playing God in their dreams. Well, okay, let us forgive their nubile God complex. However, you can't forget that the whole film involves Leonardo being hired to essentially rob the dreams of a corporate tycoon.
Ellen Page is Ariadne, a sympathetic architect, mastermind, ingenue, who tells Leo he does not have to face his nightmare alone and live with the guilt and all that crap. Meanwhile, they are all hired to rob and steal a man's mind or scramble it up so he makes different decisions in life. So we get a certain morality in an amoral context. Clever, but is that on purpose or merely a titillating flaw of the film?
At heart inception is a Hollywood blockbuster film. So, I am inclined to believe any philosophical weight is merely as as fleeting as a dream and at worst, very lowly aimed assuming most movie goers will not get it. Sadly, they are probably right.
Call it contextual morality. This is sort of like a Nazi feeling bad about taking at nap on his shift, while the ovens ran. And being asked to care because we are watching a film abut the poor Nazi who lost his job because he fell asleep on his shift, all because he was working hard for his family! We can identify with trying to feed your family right? Ah, what about that oven running in the background?
And I get the whole let's jump into people's dreams concept. That is really cool and obviously a great setup for CGI. But, it becomes very convoluted when you start talking bout dreams within dreams within dreams. Jeez. Moreover, there are a lot of cumbersome rules that must be explicated to buy into this world. A little too many if you ask me. A little too many levels of dreams for its own good.
Inception is a movie that part and parcel is excellent. Pick out the acting, the cinematography, the sound track, the CGI, it is all as good as it gets. Unfortunately, Inception is the rare film that is the total opposite of the phrase "the sum is greater than the parts". For some inexplicable reason this film as a whole is less then the sum of its parts. How the hell do you do that? In your dreams, I guess.
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