John Says:Christopher Nolan has achieved immortal status as both a visionary director and master storyteller, first with his unparalleled success with The Dark Knight, and now with his latest (and greatest) film, Inception. No matter how much you may hear about this film before seeing it, there is so much depth in the plot and character decvelopment, that it is virtually immune to spoilers.
The story follows a man named Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), an extractor who is trained to steal information from the minds of dreamers. DiCaprio, who is only refining his talent as an actor, possibly gives one of his most complete performances- a man driven by the future but haunted by his past. It is not a 'showy' performance in any sense, but DiCaprio still proves that he is one of the greatest actors working today.
On the surface, Inception may seem like an action movie. It is. It is also a top-notch mystery and a mind-bending drama. Repeat viewings only enrich the story and add to both the mystery and understanding. The cast is one of the best I have ever seen, with Marion Cotillard (stunning), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, and Ellen Page all delivering what is required of them and more.
And then comes the ending - open-ended to say the least, and one that will likely spark conversations and debates for years to come. Nolan is smart, not necessarily giving the audience what it wants, but what the story needs. There is debate over whether or not the entire movie is what it seems, we may never know. All I know it that Inception is a movie that does not compromise story in order to reach a wider audience. It manages to deliver both a solid story with solid acting, and as the box-office is showing, the audience appreciates it!
Maureen says:
At the time of this review, I have seen this film twice, and I've finally regained enough speech to write something about it. And still, all I can think of are words like "mesmerizing," "brilliant," "perfect," "masterpiece," "astonishing," "mind-blowing," "groundbreaking"... fill in the blank with what you like. I have never seen anything like this. My expectations were - dangerously - that this would be the best movie I've ever seen. These expectations were met halfway through and exceeded from then on. Perfectly cast, directed, shot, scored, written, performed... again, fill in the blank.
The best thing about it (if you can pick one) is the story. Chris Nolan spent around 10 years perfecting this script, and it's going to take audiences twice that long to stop talking about it and analyzing it. Rarely, if ever, have I said that the second viewing of a movie is like watching a different movie altogether. When I compare it to some of my other favorite movies and all-time classics, they either pale in comparison or I literally can't compare them because this is so unique. Do yourself a favor and see this movie. Like 5 times.
(Awards Potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actress (Cotillard), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects)
