DREAM COME TRUE: Nolan's genius fuels ingenious 'Inception'

  The film: “Inception”

  Star time: ***** (out of five)

  Directed by: Christopher Nolan

  In a nutshell: While the rest of the movie industry is hard-pressed to come up with a single new idea (“Piranha 3D, anyone?), the beautiful mind of Christopher Nolan keeps pumping them out like child’s play. In “Inception,” Nolan makes us question if our mind is playing tricks on us, casting Leonardo DiCaprio cast as a dream-invading thief trying to pull off the most important job, professionally and personally, of his life. “Inception” is part caper film, part psychological thriller and all blockbuster.

  The cast: DiCaprio is Dom Cobb, an Extractor, a thief who specializes in stealing ideas. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Arthur, his point man, who’s responsible for researching dream team targets. Ellen Page is Ariadne, the team’s Architect, responsible for constructing the mazelike dreamscapes. Tom Hardy is Eames, a Forger, who can impersonate important characters in the dream. Marion Cotillard is Mal, Cobb’s late wife, a Shade who haunts his dreams. Deleep Rao is the Chemist, responsible for concocting the complex sedative mixes needed to allow dream crime. Ken Watanabe is Saito, the man who hires the team but becomes a Tourist on their mission. Cillian Murphy is Robert Fischer Jr., the Mark or target of the team’s mission. Nolan staple Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite and an almost unrecognizable Tom Berenger have small but important roles.
   Plotlines: A Japanese businessman hires a subsconscious security team, not for their usual service, stealing ideas, but rather for a risky mission to implant an idea in the mind of the heir to a rival company. The mission is compromised when the dreamscapes the team is using are invaded by subconscious projections of the team leader’s late wife, whom he’s accused of murdering.

  End game: In an effort to keep this review spoiler free, we’ll just say that the ending to “Inception” is inspiring – ahem – spirited debate online, with a current poll at EW.com drawing thousands of votes and showing audiences split almost 50-50 in their interpretation of the film’s final scene. We’ll save our interpretation for another blog and just observe that the idea behind “Inception” has been planted in a lot of brains (about $60 million worth Friday and Saturday) and seems to be spreading like a virus.

  Review haiku:

  Find your way back home

  As the hero of your dreams

  Take a leap of faith

  The trailer: You can see it by clicking here.

  Showing locally: For local showtimes, visit the Mirror’s movie page here.