Inception

Writer/Director Christopher Nolan is back in full brain twisting mode after giving us the thrill of "The Dark Knight". He confounded us with the trippy "Memento" which played with the concepts of the space/time continuum and now he enters our dreams to steal our thoughts and asks, "can the dream be the reality?"

This is a brilliant film filled with solid acting and wonderful effects. It demands your attention or, like many of the characters themselves, you will be lost in its dreams. Mr. Nolan constructs a multi-layered dream within a dream landscape and takes us on a wild journey that followed carefully will captivate and stimulate your own mind. Your pilot for this flight of fancy is Leonardo DeCaprio and he is excellent as the self tortured "dream extractor". Ellen Page is your co-pilot as "The dream architect" who's main purpose is appears to be the audience's avatar and ask the questions that help explain the logic of the film. This is Ms. Page's first foray into an "adult" role and she handles herself admirably against heavyweights like Mr. DeCaprio and Michael Caine (In a little more than a cameo as Mr. DeCaprio's father).

The film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Cillian Murphy. Mr. Levitt has a wonderful sequence without gravity that is remarkable to watch and even more so as I believe it was done without any CGI effects. Mr. Murphy plays the "mark" who mind is invaded by Mr. DeCaprio and his team. Also co-starring Ken Watanabe, Tom Berenger, and Marion Cotillard. The entire cast is just perfect without any false notes to shatter the concept.

If you have trouble following the plot, I recommend you just let yourself go and enjoy the ride. There will be plenty of time for analysis and debate once the credits roll. And trust me, you will analyze and debate. "Inception" is the first truly original movie of the summer and one of the year's best.