Effects-Friendly “Inception” Matches and Exceeds Expectations

“She locked away a secret, deep inside herself, something she once knew to be true … but chose to forget.”

“They say we only use a fraction of our brain’s true potential. Now that’s when we’re awake. When we’re asleep, we can do almost anything.”

So I was really late to the “Inception” game, but it was hard to miss all the cryptic pop-culture references about dreaming and alternate realities. When I did finally get around to checking this one out, I was still blown away.

I’ve never been a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but I have to admit that he was pretty impressive in this flick as Dom Cobb. I thought it would be a little more difficult to get past the “Juno” aspect of Ellen Page, but I thought she was good. Marion Cotillard brilliantly captured the vulnerability and imbalance of Mal -- on which much of the movie truly hinged on.

As I was watching, I found “Inception” to be a fascinating blend of “Memento,” “Ocean’s 11” and “The Matrix.” So imagine my surprise when I learned that the writer, co-producer and director of “Inception,” Christopher Nolan, also wrote “Memento” as well. It turns out Nolan wrote a treatment about the ideas behind “Inception” nine years before production on the flick even began, with the original concept imagining dream-stealing as a horror movie. After showing his chops as director of “Batman Begins,” Nolan earned the industry reputation that allowed him to get the huge budget he needed to film and market “Inception.” It turns out he made a wise decision, as evidenced by the fact that the movie garnered eight Academy Award nominations and four little bronze men.

I won’t get into too many other details of the actual movie because I don’t want to confuse myself again—and after all, I’m really not sure whether I’m writing this or really just dreaming about writing it. Anyway, it is hard to be mesmerized, absorbed and engrossed by a film for two hours and 20 minutes, but that was the case with “Inception.”

After all, who would thought that a movie about dreaming could keep you wide awake?