Reviews and Discussions of Cinema from Astoria, NYC

Christopher Nolan is a force to be reckoned with; he’s a new king of Hollywood. Sometimes studios reward talent—but talent that sells. He wrote (with his brother) and directed Inception, and it’s a fantastic concept. A heist plot—one you’ve seen before, same kinds of characters, each with a different talent, and the same set-up—but set the heist in dream worlds and pose questions of the subconscious, and you’ve got a blockbuster that forces people to think and ponder over what they’re watching. Nolan trusts the audience’s intellect. He’s quickly becoming famous and very well thought of as the director of smart blockbusters. This film is very well done; it’s puzzling, but too much, not too confusing, unless you hatch onto the details—to figure out details requires multiple viewings, and one needs those to really discuss it. It’s a great idea, solid execution, but is it really a great film? Or does it seem more complex than it actually is?

Another thing—I love Leo, but now he’s starting to be the same in every film. He has a wonderful presence and intensity in this, but it’s almost the same exact character and acting job as Shutter Island. He’s a grieving, psychologically unbalanced and very sad man who’s trying to do his very difficult job while still guiltily holding onto his dead wife. I hope this is just a passing thing…and the similarities of characters stop after this.