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Saturday, April 16, 2011

inceptionally mediocre





I watched this tonight with my daughter who had already seen it. I kept having to pause the movie to ask her what was going on. Not to mention rewinding again and again in order to hear what the heck was being said. Asian man with French accent, what? French actress imitating an American accent, who?

What I did like about Inception, though, was noticing the layers under the layers that the filmmakers so sneakily snuck into the movie. It's one of the perks of living to be half a century old.

Or did they?

I love it when this happens. Recognizing actors playing opposite each other, knowing they had prior roles that relate somehow. Seems I never forget a face. Who knows, maybe I am one of those super-recognizers I wrote about earlier (oddly enough, I wrote that post almost two years ago to the day).

So here goes. Inception. The layers within the movie about layers of sleep.



- Heathcliff (Tom Hardy) plays alongside a man (DiCaprio's Cobb) who also keeps chasing the woman he loves on the other side.



Bugged me the whole movie. Where have I seen this guy? Why do those lips look so familiar? I had to google his name in order to make the connection.

- The Edith Piaf song, Non Je Ne Regrette Rien. It was bugging me, too. I wanted to figure out why they chose that particular song as the wake-me-up.


And now I'm thinking it was because the song played alongside the woman who plays a woman who certainly does have regrets (Cotillard's Mal) because she can't wake up, afterall.


- Cillian Murphy plays Robert Fisher, which may or may not be a play on Bobby Fisher. How this relates to Inception I have no idea. But again, I recognized Murphy from somewhere but couldn't put my finger on it. Turns out Murphy is a man who once played a man whose alter personality is that of a woman (Peacock). In Inception, Murphy played opposite a man (Hardy) who morphs into a woman (the blonde at the bar).




I confess I didn't pick up on this layer until I looked up Murphy to learn his prior roles. I'm still not sure what movie I recognized him from originally. Cold Mountain maybe. Or the preview for Red Eye? Don't know. That one will remain deep in my subconscious.

As for the man playing a woman theme, I only came up with that one because, you know, I was writing this post.

- And, finally, but no layer of connection that I can come up with, I got to see Lukas Haas so many years after Witness, all growed up.


I spotted him right away. He's an Austinite, originally, or was at some point before he played the Mennonite boy. Turns out, thanks to imdb, Haas and DiCaprio are friends.

So while the actual movie, in my mind, was, in a word, meh, the underlying meanings were a real kick to watch.

Either that or it's late and I dreamed it all up.

What about you, reader? Did you see deeper layers of movies within the movie? Maybe some that I missed?

15 comments:

Jenn @ Youknow...that Blog? said...

It's O'dark thirty, and I've been awake since 3am. Or... have I?

I think I'm too tired to come up with a more pithy comment.

Hope you have a lovely day :)

Tammy said...

I like how you think! I have nothing more to add to your layers. I was glad I watched the movie with my son, who loved it, he explained everything to me as it was happening otherwise I would have been lost.

shrink on the couch said...

Jenn -- Thanks. Gonna try my best to have a wonderful day. It sure is a pretty one.

Tammy -- I appreciate your saying this at just this point in time. I re-read this blog post and wondered if I made any sense at all. If just one person can follow my train of thought I feel a rip roaring success. So thanks!

Lee said...

Honestly, this film did nothing for me. Zip. Goose egg. It was hard to hear the dialogue but really, what these characters had to say to each other is besides the point.

Unknown said...
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shrink on the couch said...

Lee -- Yes, in the end (in the beginning, middle, and end) it was the same formulaic tripe. Man seeks heroic, impossible, death-defying quest with a woman by his side. Plan unravels. Gunshots ensue. Automatic rifles get bigger with unending rounds of ammo. Car chases. Miraculously none of the key figures dies. Triumph of good over evil.

shrink on the couch said...

I need to add that I did like the concept, the whole dream thing,and the limbo dream state, and the special effects in the hotel hallway were great. These creative aspects were overwhelmed by the usual violent action-thriller scenes.

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen this one yet, but it's definitely on the list.

Rachel Cotterill said...

I quite enjoyed the film, but I didn't get all these intertextual references! I tend to just sit back and switch off my brain for a bit of relaxation when I watch a film like this :)

Mrs. G. said...

You are good. I didn't get one of these. I watched this one with my son and I had to have them pause it to get a "what the hell" update, I'm not sure I don't need to see it a couple of more times to truly get it.

hokgardner said...

Never saw it. I almost never see movies. I'm kinda lame that way.

smalltownme said...

I liked the movie, but I love your layers.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I really liked the movie, but the teens loved it even more--like watching it three times at the theater and buying it.

You noticed a lot!

Anonymous said...

I could watch this one again--the ending really threw me.

Jodi Pharo said...

i still have not seen this movie. we've rented it several times and not watched it -- my kids are at the age where they are old enough to stay up late but not old enough to watch most of the stuff i'm staying up to watch. so we watch nothing.