I took in the most hyped film of the summer on Sunday afternoon and found it to be predictably entertaining and ridiculous at the same time.
For those of you who haven't seen it, the plot revolves around Dom Cobb (Leonardo di Caprio), a specialist in the somewhat implausible art of inflitrating and influencing the thoughts of sleeping people as they dream. This skill is apparently much in demand to extract vital privileged information from business leaders that could be used for commercial gain by their rivals, or to encourage their subconscious to make particular decisions that will have major implications.
It's the latter scenario that Cobb's trying to achieve here, and he hooks up with a crack team of international mind benders to convince the alienated son of a terminally ill oil tycoon that he must break up his father's empire to become his own man. The beneficiary this time is a Japanese oligarch (who just happens to join Cobb's party himself despite no experience whatsoever), and in return he will use his influence to allow Cobb to return to his native U.S to see his children, who he has been unable to visit due to suspicions he killed his wife.
All clear so far? I thought not. The key to enjoying Inception is just to sit back and enjoy the ride without getting too hung up on whether you actually understand everything that's going on or not. Once Cobb and friends start entering the dreams within dreams, we often have two or three sequences taking place at the same time, with any semblance of a conventional narrative left behind. But it's all done with such verve, and with some fantastic visual flourishes (check out the Parisian scenes in particular to witness the power of the imagination) that it doesn't really matter that much, although the film could have done with being half an hour shorter.
The biggest problem with Inception is not the fantastical storyline or the confusing tangents, but its leading man. It continues to baffle this writer that Di Caprio is now regarded as a heavyweight actor, because other than his ever more prominent jowls there seems little evidence to suggest he has progressed significantly from his youthful pin-up days of 15 years ago. Here he gives a characteristically wooden and dour performance, but thankfully the superior talents of the elegant Marion Cotillard as the wife who haunts Cobb's own subconscious, and suave Brit Tom Hardy as the sarcastic Eames, ensure there is some quality on show here beyond the spectacular special effects.
Rating: 6 out of 10. Like the Matrix series, this latest film from Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) purports to have more depth and intelligence than is actually the case, but if you are prepared to ignore the flaws this is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
Interesting take on it, though I feel you do the film a disservice by diminishing the intelligence inherent in the story solely on it's "high concept" nature.
ReplyDeleteFeel the film asked a lot of questions regarding reality and the fact that perception is purely a subjective creation whilst not insulting the viewer by providing Star Trek-esque idiot's guide answers...the purposefully ambiguous ending allowing the watcher to infer his own aural account of what happened (although we didn't see the totem fall, did we hear it in the fade out?) is a fair example to lead with here.
At the very base level Inception is a top-drawer heist movie, although the different threads of the plot, instead of occurring in a linear, single-plane manner, are layered in what is (and I hesitate to call it this) a very Nolan-esque manner - he similarly played with narrative conventions in Memento and The Prestige to great effect.
99 times out of 100 I'd also agree with you about Di Caprio. This happens to be one of those times. Felt his role didn't carry the emotional weight that was required to deliver the threat, nor the pathos, brought about by his guilt over his wife's "death".
Having said that, I thought the rest of the cast delivered in spades. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Juno (her name escapes me...) are two actors consistently choosing interesting roles and delivering nuanced, quality performances. I can't recommend JGL enough at the moment, his performance in Brick is superb and the rest of the film's not too shabby either...and he delivers again here, playing straight man to LDC's emotional wreck. Staid, stoic - a mature showing from the former runt of the 3rd Rock from the Sun litter.
Anyway, thoughtfully written piece - though your habit of referring to yourself as "this writer" could be left here...just sayin'