Inception MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -4

Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine. Sci-fi actioneer. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Opening in theatres and IMAX on July 16, 2010

FILM SYNOPSIS: Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs this sci-fi actioneer around the globe and into the infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction: stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back, but only if he can accomplish the impossible. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse; their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime.

But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. Cobb’s estranged wife keeps showing up to disrupt his plans and even kill him. But is this his wife…or, a dream?

PREVIEW REVIEW: Creative? Maybe it’s a little too creative. The filmmaker and his international cast take this whole dream manipulation contrivance a little too seriously, kind of like the folks who search for Big Foot. Different? The nonlinear plotline is still an excuse for shootings, beatings, jolting car chases, and things that go boom. Meaningful? Many of my colleagues ate it up. I, on the other hand, was reminded of the Emperor’s new clothes. There really wasn’t as much to this film effort as Mr. DiCaprio’s deeply furrowed forehead would indicate.

I don’t mind being intrigued throughout a film, or being surprised by its ending, but I was lost the first 45 minutes, like being caught in an unsatisfied dream. Yes, that was part of the idea. But I didn’t like it because it came across more gimmicky than profound. Everyone is so serious throughout as they explain over and over how to move around in a dream world, but for all its bravado and bluster, it is little more than a summer popcorn-munching action adventure, “…full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Warner Bros.