Spoiler-Free Inception Review

A film about dreams would be incomplete if it did not include the most beautiful woman on the planet; as in so many other things, Inception gets this part right. Marion Cotillard provides a beating heart to both us and the film, like that first songbird greeting the new dawn.

Actually, it's hard to fault anything about the film. It continues writer/director Christopher Nolan's unbroken streak of complicated thrillers; his deft handling of what seems a dozen layers of plot is by now old hand, and Inception is his best work to date. Even so, at risk of losing my geek cred, I'd love to see him wait before making the third Batman movie and do a comedy instead. Maybe he could revitalize John Cusack's career. Like that's going to happen, but this is a movie about dreams, after all.

Anyone who has seen the trailer knows walking in what they are in store for. You'll go in expecting The Matrix (with which this will be compared ad nauseam, not entirely justified) and exit with something similar but by the same token entirely unique. The nature of dreams rather than reality is the big question. Inception also has a stronger emotional through-line that makes, you ask me, a far more satisfying finish than The Matrix.

I've totally alienated my geek audience.

When you go (and you know you will), don't forget the old thinking cap. As in his other films, Nolan comes hard and fast with wild concepts. If you don't pay attention it's easy to get lost in the details. Don't worry, he's one of the best storytellers we have: the information is there, you just have to pay attention. It's worth the effort. Hoo doggies, is it worth it. You know how finicky I am, and I've not been this satisfied walking out of the theater in many a moon.

And hey, it has Marion Cotillard. You can't go wrong.