Rated PG13

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger

Heidi’s Illustrious Rating: 4/5

Word of Warning: Visit the restroom before this movie, because you don’t want to miss a second.

First a disclaimer, I’ll admit, I am a true fan of science fiction and I’ve been looking forward to this film for a long time. DiCaprio + Nolan + Sci-Fi, it just couldn’t get better than that, I thought. However, some early reviews of “Inception” made me nervous – “confusing,” “muddled” and “hard to follow” were just some of the words being used.

Those reviewers were wrong. While I wouldn’t recommend going to see “Inception” drunk or mentally impaired in any other way, this movie isn’t hard to follow (although if you leave the theater for a pee or smoke break, watch out, it will be virtually impossible to catch up).

This is the science fiction story of Dom Cobb, who is a high-tech thief. Instead of jewels or art, Cobb steals secrets from inside people’s minds. Confused? Remember, it’s science fiction. In this world, technology allows a person to enter into another person’s dream, and in fact, architect the entire dream sequence.

That’s where Ellen Page comes in. She plays Adriane, a gift architecture student who becomes Cobb’s dream architect when his original architect is rendered unavailable. Adriane can literally design dreams that are then inserted into a target’s head. However, she is a highly perceptive young woman who becomes concerned about some dark secrets she feels Cobb is hiding.

Let’s start in the beginning. Cobb originally started out as a legit practitioner of inception, however, through an unfortunate chain of events, he’s been forced to go underground, practicing his trade for less than reputable characters. But he doesn’t work for blue-collar criminals – he’s stealing corporate secrets for white-collar bad guys.

After a particularly challenging job, the target hires Cobb for the most major assignment of his career, one that may give Cobb a chance to get his life back. He must assemble a team to go deep into a target’s dream, not steal a secret, but to plant an idea. It’s a dangerous job, more dangerous than his team knows, but Cobb wants his life back, at any cost.

His team consists of his partner, Arthur (Joseph Gorden-Levitt), the architect Adriane (Ellen Page), and Eames (Tom Hardy) a shape-shifter who is able to become a different character within a dream. They are planning to architect a dream of the owner of a mega corporation in order to plant an idea that will drastically change the future.

Look, there’s a lot of science left unexplained in “Inception,” but I don’t care. It’s a visually stimulating ride and I find the subject matter of dreams intriguing. If you pay close attention, “Inception” is a brilliantly directed, well-acted science fiction movie that may leave you questioning the authenticity of your own reality.

*Also appearing in the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor.