25th July, 2010

DAVID ADAMS

Inception (M/12A/PG-13)

In a word: Complex

Like The Matrix, it’s all about what is truth and what is not and how you can tell the difference between the two. Unlike The Matrix, the future of the entire world is not at stake (although your ability to keep up with what’s real and what’s not just may be).

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, an “extractor” who specialises in penetrating people’s dreams seeking information on behalf of his clients, major corporations not above dabbling in some industrial espionage.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD: Cobb ventures into the strange - yet architecturally splendid - world of dreams. "With some amazing visual – and artistic - effects and a twisting plot that leaves you never quite knowing what’s coming next, writer-director Christopher Nolan has produced something of a unique treat."

It’s a dangerous business and he and his right-hand man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), soon find themselves engaged by ruthless businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe), for a job that will stretch their abilities to the limit. Instead of extracting information from the mind of a rival’s heir, Robert Fischer Jr (played by Cillian Murphy), he wants them to plant an idea in his head.

The price is right – Saito promises that in return for a successful job, he will ensure Cobb is able to return to his children in the US, a place from where he’s been on the run after being accused of killing his wife Mal (played by Marion Cotillard, she exists now just in his dreams).

Cobb and Arthur assemble a team which includes various specialists, in particular an ‘architect’, Ariadne (Ellen Page), a gun architecture student whose task is to design the ‘dreamworld’ Cobb and companions will enter in order to plant the idea in Fischer’s mind.

It’s a delicate task – and one not helped by the slow fracturing of Cobb’s mind as he struggles to reconcile himself with his past nor by the defences which have been constructed in Fisher’s mind – but the result is a tense and thrilling ride which flicks back and forth between the ‘real’ and ‘dream’ worlds. Fall asleep in this film at your peril.

As much as it’s about the difference between truth and fiction, dreams and reality, this is essentially a story of redemption as Cobb finds his way back to the reality he has always sought and DiCaprio plays the part well, ably supported by Page, who as Ariadne is the only character who knows the truth about his deteriorating mind.

With some amazing visual – and artistic - effects and a twisting plot that leaves you never quite knowing what’s coming next, writer-director Christopher Nolan has produced something of a unique treat.

Yes, it’s a much smaller scale tale than The Matrix and not nearly as ambitious, but it’s a great film if you’re looking for something to exercise the mind and ponder the possibilities.

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