Title:  Inception
Format:  Drive-In
Date Seen:  August 7, 2010
Category:  Sci-Fi/Action/Thriller/Mind-bending
Rating:  A

A really good mind-bending movie that leaves you wanting to see it again in order to understand it better.

Description (from fandango.com):  Visionary filmmaker Christopher Nolan writes and directs this psychological sci-fi action film about a thief who possesses the power to enter into the dreams of others. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) doesn't steal things, he steals ideas. By projecting himself deep into the subconscious of his targets, he can glean information that even the best computer hackers can't get to. In the world of corporate espionage, Cobb is the ultimate weapon. But even weapons have their weakness, and when Cobb loses everything, he's forced to embark on one final mission in a desperate quest for redemption. This time, Cobb won't be harvesting an idea, but sowing one. Should he and his team of specialists succeed, they will have discovered a new frontier in the art of psychic espionage. They've planned everything to perfection, and they have all the tools to get the job done. Their mission is complicated, however, by the sudden appearance of a malevolent foe that seems to know exactly what they're up to, and precisely how to stop them.

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Wow.  This movie definitely challenges your brain.  I watched this movie at the drive-in with my family, and we spent the entire trip home discussing (read: arguing about) the different scenes and sci-fi elements.  Luckily, we all agreed on one thing-- we all liked the movie.  It had a stellar cast, original idea (at least to me), great special effects, and a fast pace that never lagged.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy... the entire cast was amazing.  And the dialogue was great.  Probably the best scene was with Ellen Page as Ariadne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur.  The two of them are within a dream, and the people within it, the "mental projections," are getting suspicious of them, so Arthur has to think of something to diffuse their suspicion.

Arthur:  Quick, give me a kiss!

Ariadne: (kisses him, then looks around) They're still looking at us.

Arthur:  Yeah, it was worth a shot.

I loved the whole concept of the movie too.  The idea that you can go into someone's dreams to find things someone's hiding, or to plant an idea in their mind, just seems so cool.  A movie that takes place almost entirely within someone's subconscious can go in so many different directions, because there are fewer limits on the dream world.  So the effects, the action, the plot can be extreme without seeming impossible, because after all, none of this is happening in the "real" world.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this movie is the ending, which I won't give away.  But I personally found it frustrating.  Other people might like it.  And of course, I really want to see this movie again to try to understand some parts that confused me.  I'd also see it again because, despite the ending, I loved it.  A