The Outlaw

My next review, whenever I get a chance to write it, will bring back the good ol' days. I will critique The Outlaw, Howard Hughes' originally banned 1943 Billy the Kid adaption. On the subject, I got 4 old Westerns on two DVDs for $6.00!!! What a deal!!!

INCEPTION

4.5/5

Inception

Director: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Insomnia)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island, The Departed) Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, G.I. Joe:Rise of Cobra) Ken Watanabe (Memoirs of a Geisha, Letters From Iwo Jima) Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, 28 Days Later) Ellen Page (Juno, Whip It)

I'm brimming with excitement just sitting down at the computer to write this. I just got back from the movie theater and I want to give the entire movie away, just to have someone to vent my excitement on, but I won't. This will be an entirely spoiler-free review, as hard as that will be.

Inception follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team of hackers as they attempt to break into the subconscious of others and steal their thoughts. Because of the career and life he leads, Dom has been forced to run from his children in America and live a life of exile. Searching for a way home, Dom receives an offer from a businessman, Saito (Watanabe.) Saito wants the heir to a rival company, (Cillian Murphy) to denounce his title when his father dies and break up the empire. For this to be possible, Cobb must do the opposite of what he normally does: instead of extraction, he must perform inception, placing an idea inside someone's subconscious rather than taking one out, a concept which many consider impossible. Dom is promised a way home if he can complete this task.

Now, despite some problems with the narrative and Ariadne (Ellen Page,) who's character existed purely to answer the audience's question and act as the naïve, young character, which extended the narrative unnecessarily in places, Inception is a thrilling and highly intelligent summer blockbuster that should revolutionize the way that audiences perceive what a great summer movie should be. For action junkies, the action is in top form, with engrossing Nolan-style camera work and plenty of it. The special effects are superb and realistic, and I give a special credit to Christopher Nolan for not going 3-D on this-it would have been tragic. It also gives something to audience members looking for a thinking man's movie; it has the central themes of coming to terms with the loss of a loved one and going on despite their absence. Nolan takes what was a classic crime plot and gives it a psychological twist, something that he did with great results in Insomnia.

This ensemble cast is impressive. DiCaprio at the helm plays an intense, and complex character, a character very similar to his in Shutter Island, but there is something more to his performance here; a more confident, charismatic element. Between this and Shutter Island, DiCaprio is sure to get an Oscar nod this year, and I hope that it is his year. He has waited too long and too patiently for his well deserved Best Actor award. Joseph-Gordon Levitt is solid as Cobb's right hand man, Arthur. He beats up bad guys while floating through the air, and looks good doing it. Cillian Murphy, who is a Nolan regular, gets his first major role in a Nolan film as Robert Fischer Jr., the heir to his father's corporation. He portrays a man who never lived up to his father's expectations, and this strain in his relationship with his father is one of the things that allow Cobb and his team to do what they need to do, but I can't give too much away! Murphy is superb, he gives a very emotional and passionate performance. The only weak link in the cast is Ellen Page, who, again serves as an information vehicle: “But, how...?” "But why does this....?” This is the only part of the script that gets tiresome.

Inception is definitely worth the ten bucks, nay absolutely worth the fifteen bucks for an IMAX ticket. It's an engrossing, smart, and mind-bending trip into not only the minds of the characters on the screen, but also your own mind. I can safely say that I don't think I will ever look at a dream the same way again. Inception may not be Freudian, but it definitely delivers on every level. Check it out as soon as possible.

Sorry, I lied. I just watched this movie, so I decided to make this my first review. Hope you enjoy it, you should check the movie out.

4/5

Revolutionary Road

Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator, The Departed) Kate Winslet (Hamlet, The Reader)

In Revolutionary Road, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star as a young, attractive married couple who seemingly have the American dream figured out. However, there are many beneath the surface problems with their life and marriage together that plague them.

Sick of seeing her husband in a dead end job that she knows he doesn't enjoy, April decides that they should move to Paris with their two children to not get trapped under the hopelessness of life where they are.

The acting in this film is top tier. DiCaprio is groundbreaking as a man who feels trapped by what his father was and what he believes that he should be. Upon first seeing that this was a repairing of the Titanic romance pair, I was a bit skeptical about whether the chemistry could work again. But it did, tenfold. DiCaprio, whose most recent performances had been of smugglers (Blood Diamond) and CIA operatives (Body of Lies,) brings his acting back to reality, his portrait of a regular man dealing with everyman issues is real, it is believable, and it is also heartbreaking. Kate Winslet's depiction of a mentally ill housewife is thought-provoking, and it's just more incredibly impressive stuff from Winslet who is always incredible. Other than the two leads, the standouts are slim, except for Micheal Shannon, who plays the mentally ill son of the Wheeler's friend, Mrs. Givings. This performance scored Shannon a nomination for best supporting actor, which he should have won. His character exposed all of the truths behind everything that the Wheelers did, raising the issue of the blurred lines between sanity and insanity. DiCaprio's character summed up the general view that society has toward the mentally ill by saying “You're wrong! He's insane!”

Sam Mendes presents another lyrical and sympatheic portrait of a struggling American family, just as he did with his Oscar winning American Beauty. This movie really could have been melodramatic, but it wasn't. Everything there was real, right down to the sweat on the faces of the Wheelers on a hot July night. It's refreshing when films include details like that, it brings an entirely new sense to the film. It's such a simple detail, yet many directors choose to make their stars look as beautiful as possible to please audiences.

The weak points of the movie are in the pacing department. Flashbacks come and go inexplicably without a reference to the fact that it's a flashback. Also, the Wheeler's kids are strangely absent throughout the majority of the movie, and the script did not make it clear where exactly they went. Were they sent away because of their mother's mental illness, or were they just magically absent when their parents were yelling, screaming, and fighting with each other? That confused me.

Revolutionary Road is a unique film that presents a different angle to the American dream-escaping the American dream, following passions, and being truly happy. Unfortunately, the Wheelers expierienced the harsh reality of said dream- with tragic consequences.

First Review

My first review will be posted next week after I see Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated follow up to the critically acclaimed commercial knockout The Dark Knight, Inception. I am a big fan of both Christopher Nolan and Leonardo DiCaprio, so I have definitely been looking forward to this one.

Introduction

Greetings movie lovers!

I started this blog as a place to share my love for movies with the rest of the world wide web. I can's say how often I will be posting when I'm not busy with work and other things, but I can say that if you want a opinion to run with the professional reviews that you have already read before seeing a movie, then check here at troy'smovies for a second opinion.

Thanks,

Troy Ellis.

Don't become a product of your environment. Let your environment become a product of you.