Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

July 20, 2010

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With regards to the other questions, I do think that the criticisms about DiCaprio failing to engage as a lead actor do have some validity in roles like this and Shutter Island. I like him more in roles like The Aviator and Catch Me If You Can where he is more myth than man. I also consider his taking this part immediately after Shutter Island to be the 2010 equivalent to Tom Cruise doing The Firm and A Few Good Men consecutively. I understand why Dicaprio was drawn to both roles, but I also had trouble shaking the thought that he should choose the mothers of his children a bit more carefully. Still, even in liking his performance the least, that's like picking the worst Miami Dolphin the year they went undefeated.

As I mentioned yesterday, the performance I enjoyed the most was Tom Hardy as Eames. His role requires obfuscating complexity yet I was never confused about his character's behavior at any point in the film. That's a marvelous accomplishment for such an inscrutable part. I also think that Ellen Page is perfectly cast and has identified herself as the best early 20s actress in the industry (Scarlett Johansson no longer qualifies). Also, Marion Cotillard's character has more going on than any I can recall in recent movie history. She's a femme fatale, a murderous stalker, a romantic lead, Trinity, a tortured What Dreams May Come-r, and a Misery-esque victim. There is a huge wow factor to everything she accomplishes during Inception.




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With regards to the ending, I love the devious nature of it. It's much less open ended than it seems on the surface, breathtakingly fitting for this subject matter. It's a misdirect, a symmetry of sorts with Nolan's prior post-Batman project, The Prestige.

Even if two people can share one totem, something not resolved in the film, the top could be jarred by something happening on the prior layer of dream a la the elevator fight and the plummeting van. So, the resolution of the top is inconclusive. That's why the ending is so brilliant. It seems important when it is in fact prestidigitation. The key facet is not the top but rather the physical appearance of the children. That identifies whether time has passed or he has in fact returned to that moment of flight that defines his life since his widowing.

Finally, I hope Nolan offers absolutely no explanation of Inception for the next several years. Please let the mystery build and the debate run its course.

Kim Hollis: I echo the thoughts expressed here about the quality of the film. I loved the complexity of it, and I felt that the script was really tight. There were layers upon layers, and unraveling them is the fun of the movie. As far as criticism, I did feel it was a bit slow in the first portion, but also found it to be deliberate rather than boring. I think the best performance - or at least the one I found most interesting - was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I don't really believe anyone offered a bad performance, honestly. I liked Leo (but I always like Leo), and I actually thought Tom Berenger had a very interesting supporting turn that would have been very challenging, even if his screen time is limited.

As for the ending, I prefer to think that it's just ambiguous, but I do like Josh's notion that the whole thing wasn't a dream, but rather that he was dreaming from the point that he woke up on the plane. I also like the possibility that Saito became good enough understanding what the group did that he might have fulfilled his promise to Cobb by giving him what he so desperately wanted in dreamworld, where it could realistically occur, rather than the real world, where it probably could not.


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