Inception- A Maze Of Deception

Trying to follow the plot of Inception is about as easy as trying to follow a flea on a pogo stick through a forest of pine trees. It is also just about as brilliant as getting a flea to use a pogo stick in the first place.
My mind is not flexible enough, nor my column long enough to give a clear cut plot description. The story is a multi-layered psychological labyrinth of dreams inside of dreams, worlds paralleling each other, and a man whose job it is to navigate through it all. His name is Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his mission is to plunge into people’s minds to steal their ideas. This time though, he is on a different sort of mission. He must use dreams to implant an idea into the mind of a young heir, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) to destroy his dying father’s empire.
Writer-Director, Christopher Nolan has created something that is so perfectly and infinitely logical that wraps its self around your brain before you can wrap your brain around it. Pulse-pounding action sequences keep us entertained while the intricate architecture of the film becomes more and more convoluted. Its saving grace is an emotional backbone that keeps the characters more accessible than the plot.
At one point in the film, Cobb explains to his young assistant, Ariadne (Ellen Paige) that we can never remember the beginning of our dreams, that when we first begin to dream, we always start somewhere in the middle. This is an accurate description of how the film begins, as well as a hint at how it will end. We are dropped into the middle of a maze and we trust that the film will lead us through. It does because it knows where it’s going, even if the audience gets lost along the way.
Nolan spent ten years writing the screenplay- and it shows. It appears nearly flawless; or at least tricks the audience into believing it is flawless. It deposits the audience at the end, confused and amazed, but willing to believe that it all worked out. With so many dreams, who’s to notice a little impossibility?
The driving force that guides the plot through its many twists and turns is Cobb’s obsession with his deceased wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) who he believes is still alive in his world of dreams. Mal committed suicide because she was convinced that the world she was living in was an illusion and the only way back to the real world was to die. Cotillard is perfect in the role of the dreamy idyllic wife, tortured in the real world by an idea rooted in her mind.
Cobb’s relationship with Mal and Fischer’s relationship with his father are what make Inception work. The characters are less disillusioned by their surroundings than the audience is, but human connections are what keep them, and the movie at least somewhat grounded.
Inception is a doubtlessly brilliant piece of work. It weaves a story that is truly unique and impossibly challenging. It places before us a handful of talented actors playing relatable, intelligent characters. It maneuvers its way through a profound complex system of worlds without a glaring loophole. But it is baffling. It requires a second viewing or even a third or fourth to get a firm grasp on what is going on. It’s a good thing it’s worth it.