Inception
(Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Ton Hardy, Dileep Rao, Michael Caine)
Like he did in 2008 with Dark Knight, writer/director Christopher Nolan saves the Hollywood summer! Uplifting the worst film season in recent history, Inception is a thinking person’s blockbuster, a lovely puzzle filled with an entertaining plot and mesmerizing visual effects.
DiCaprio is a brilliant thief who uses rogue technology to enter a person’s dreams and steal ideas. For his experimenting, he’s been forced to flee America and his two small children after the death of his spouse (the beautiful Cotillard). The problem is that memories of his dead wife endanger his work. Then billionaire Watanabe promises to help DiCaprio get back to his children, if the thief will—instead of stealing information—plant an idea into the sleeping mind of his business competitor (Murphy). DiCaprio knows this “inception” is extraordinarily difficult, so he recruits a stellar team that includes handsome Hardy, Gordon-Leavitt, Rao and newcomer Page.
Inception is a complex film—as mind-bending as Nolan’s Memento. The creator somehow keeps the story just a few steps ahead of the audience while stirring delight instead of frustration. The world of the dreamer is stunning but familiar enough; as the team’s work gets more dangerous, the dream-world starts to defy physics and logic in ways that are simply thrilling.
In fact, Inception does recall other flicks. Every Mission: Impossible movie features a similar team of experts. The shape-shifting visuals evoke Dark City and The Matrix. The psychological complication is somewhat like DiCaprio’s less exciting Shutter Island.
However, Nolan combines these elements into something new, something energizing, with inexperienced Page as our tour guide. Emotional performances by DiCaprio, Cotillard and the rest of the cast anchor this amazing visual labyrinth. In short, prepare to have your brain teased by artists at the top of their game!
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
(Starring Jay Baruchel, Nicolas Cage, Alfred Molina)
It’s infuriating that this dreck actually gets produced. This crud isn’t written; it’s storyboarded—filled with distracting effects—with a belief that audiences are morons.
Baruchel is some distant relative of Merlin the Magician. Cage is the sorcerer training him to save the world. Both magicians have bland romantic interests. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (the Pirates series) combines these dull love stories with physical fights and magic in the most preposterous ways possible.
It gets worse. One person mentions she’s scared of heights, just so it can be used as a plot point later.
A dog only appears if the movie needs a cute moment. The original “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” scene from Fantasia is sloppily tacked in. Cage flies across New York City on a giant Chrysler building eagle as he lectures about hiding magic from humans. Juvenile jokes include ball shots and a broom that pokes Baruchel in the butt. Cage phones it in. Baruchel channels Michael Cera and Jessie Eisenberg; it’s becoming impossible to tell these three actors apart.
What’s most enraging is that this over-polished turd will probably still make a profit.
Cyrus
(Starring John C. Reilly, Marissa Tomei, Jonah Hill, Catherine Keener)
A summer movie with flawed but realistic characters is rare. Among blockbusters full of huge explosions and shallow romances, a little indie comedy like Cyrus is refreshing.
Reilly is a poor schmuck who hasn’t recovered from his divorce to Keener seven years earlier. Indeed, his soon-to-be-remarried ex is still his most-trusted confidante. At a party, while peeing in the shrubs, Reilly meets Tomei, who greets him with a jaunty “nice penis.” What Tomei doesn’t tell her schlubby paramour is that she still shares a house with her grown son, Cyrus (Hill). The son is needy and quietly psychotic; he will stop at nothing to guarantee he and Mommy can spend the rest of their lives together. Thus starts a creepy, uncomfortable, but essentially honest battle for sweet, clueless Tomei’s affection.
Cyrus was written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. (Mark acted in Humpday.) These brothers tout a type of film called “mumblecore,” where hand-held cameras and actor improvisation are paramount. Dialogue is natural; lines overlap; everything has a very homespun feel. Cyrus is the mainstream realization of mumblecore, and—except for a few weirdly contrived scenes—the actors shine. Tomei especially seems to thrive in such a wonderful, off-the-cuff environment.
Your patience with this film directly correlates to your love of rough-hewn movies, shaky hand-held cinematography and quieter acting. Indie fans, this oedipal comedy is a summer flick for you.
