Movie Review #8: Inception

It has been almost two hours now since I saw the closing moments of Inception and I still haven't fully recovered. In anticipation of watching Christopher Nolan's latest film I began composing the beginning of this review based on the assumption that Inception would be a good film. I cannot write what I had planned because Inception is not a good film. It is as close to being a perfect film as I have seen in many years. In every way I can imagine, this film excelled. It was written with such depth, heart and intelligence that, even in the middle of watching it I knew I would need to re-watch it many times to fully absorb everything that was going on and, what is more, I knew that I would want to re-watch it many times. I cannot recommend highly enough that those who are of sufficient age and temperament who think they might be interested in seeing Inception go to their local theater and do exactly that. However, I'm going to offer a free piece of advice before you go.

Don't worry if you feel like you're missing a lot of the detail that is being thrown at you about the world that Nolan and company have created for us. It is a rich and complicated world. Allow the mystery of how it all works to remain a mystery for now and to serve as a backdrop for the fantastic stories that are being told against it. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to think about it and, someday, to dissect it on DVD.

I won't go into detail about the story line or attempt to describe the ideas put forth in Inception. If you have seen a preview and are intrigued, that will be enough. If you haven't seen a preview either look one up or simply accept my recommendation and go see it. If you have seen a preview and aren't interested, um, frankly I'm surprised that you're reading this.

Inception was masterfully written, beautifully scored and edited to near perfection. The acting performances were outstanding and the overall direction was so outstanding that after seeing it I wondered allowed to those who were with me if there is a better director working today. With six fantastic efforts in a row, going back to the equally mind-boggling Memento, I can't think of any.