5 out of 5

Director: Christopher Nolan

Inception is more of an experience than a movie, in the sense that describing the plot does nothing, really, to illustrate the theme layered and layered into the film. In this sense, it is pure cinema, and something that must be watched. Perhaps a few years on people will be unfamiliar with the plot, but for most, I think the basics are already there: DiCaprio exists in a world where we have the technology to explore other peoples dreams. With enough training, you can learn to subtly manipulate these dreams to extract wanted information. This is extraction. But Leo is hired to do something much different – to implant an idea deep in someones subconscious. Difficult because the nature of our minds, according to the movie, will reject outside influence if it senses its being tampered with. So intense subtlety must be applied for this task, deemed inception. For further plot reasons that are, again, important to the theme, Leo must use a team to accomplish this and also needs to complete this job to get back to his family. Now, to that mentioned theme: director/writer Christopher Nolan has couched the concept of subjective reality in different formats for ALL of his films, whether via a thriller, or actioner, or mystery film. But even though Inception is a heist movie (and a great, intense, fun one), instead of hiding this theme behind Batman masks or magic tricks, as the topic is dreams it allows Nolan to pretty much make the whole point of his movie – every line, every scene – this concept. Whats real? Whats a dream? And if its what we believe is true, does that make the difference? Perfect for after-movie discussion fodder (on your on own or with others), perfect for re-viewing, Inception is the type of film that delivers depth and thrills without making you feel like you have to come to any set conclusions about it, and thats gutsy for such a big-name production.