Brain sprain

There are movies that wash over you, like a shower. Thereare movies that hit you in the face, like a blast of freezing rain. And thenthere’s writer-director Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” which hurls you intothe center of a whirlpool and never gives you an opportunity to find yourbearings for the next two and a half hours.

In some ways, “Inception” takes Nolan back 10 years to“Memento,” his breakthrough mystery in which an amnesiac (Guy Pearce) tried topiece together the circumstances surrounding the murder of his wife. “Memento”tells its story in a circular fashion, mixing chronological sequences andepisodes in reverse order until everything eventually falls into place at theend. “Inception” is even more ambitious: The story moves forward, sideways,backwards, and finally splits into three separate, concurrent chains of events,each of which is operating in its own time frame.

“Inception,” like Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys” and SpikeJonze’s “Adaptation,” is guaranteed to sprain your brain. But the payoff iswell worth the strain.

Solving the puzzle is almost beside the point: As was thecase with “Memento,” you’d probably need to construct a flow chart to ensureevery piece was in its proper place. What does come through in “Inception” isNolan’s fascination with the evolution of dreams. From the very beginning, themovie hunts down the monsters within the mazes of our minds, while trying tounderstand how memories and repressed grief can suddenly derail a train ofthought.

The title refers to the process of implanting an idea in asubject’s subconscious, an endeavor that involves slipping inside a sleepingmind and leading the victim into a world meticulously designed by a “dreamarchitect.” In “Inception,” a Japanese businessman known as Saito (KenWatanabe) hires Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) to break into the brain of RobertFischer (Cillian Murphy), who is about to inherit his father’s sprawlingmulti-national corporation. Cobb has made his reputation as an “extractor,”someone capable of stealing valuable secrets from the minds of magnates; Saitois challenging him to do just the opposite — to leave behind a mental souvenir(a memento, if you will) that will inspire Fischer to break up the empire he’son the verge of acquiring.

Cobb puts together a talented team, starting with hisdetail-oriented partner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who knows his wayaround a nightmare. Architecture student Ariadne (Ellen Page) is hired to setup the necessary dreamscapes, Eames (Tom Hardy) handles the required disguisesand forgeries that enhance the experience, and chemist Yusef (Dileep Rao)controls the substances that enable Cobb’s cohorts to simultaneously share thedream state. The mission will be carried out during a 10-hour flight from LosAngeles to Sydney.

Our fantasies often incorporate all sorts of elements wehave seen and heard, so Nolan gives himself carte-blanche to make “Inception”an ever-changing funhouse of shifting styles and malleable moods; it’s obviousFischer has seen a few James Bond, “Mission: Impossible” and “Matrix” movies inhis time. There are also elegant homages to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” and “TheShining,” as well as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (the people who populatethe dream world aren’t particularly receptive to intruders).

For Cobb, the most troubling complication in the mix may beone of his own making. He is haunted by the figure of his long-lost wife, Mal(the marvelous Marion Cotillard), whose tortured, tremulous figure shows upfrequently in his thoughts. This is DiCaprio’s third movie in recent memory inwhich he’s dealt with a disturbed and disturbing spouse (he had to contend withthe fiery temper of Kate Winslet in “Revolutionary Road,” and he confrontedMichelle Williams in “Shutter Island” while she was literally on fire). Cobbhas a slippery grasp on reality even at the best of times, and DiCaprio playsthe man’s surges of anguish beautifully. His scenes with Cotillard — whoseportrayal of Mal echoes with heartbreaking desperation — give “Inception” arich emotional core that’s genuinely arresting.

While Nolan’s screenplay doesn’t delve nearly as far intothe psyches of the other members of the squad, Levitt and Hardy convey anintriguing sense of suspicious rivalry, and Page brings an appealing mix ofwisdom and wonder to Ariadne.

Instead of trying to sort out all the particulars of theplot or check off Nolan’s references, viewers might be better off simplysurrendering to the seductive atmosphere of “Inception,” which is somehowaction-packed and deeply contemplative, suspenseful and yet soothing. Nolan hasconcocted a mesmerizing mash-up of concepts and conceits that leaves viewers inthe same state Arthur finds himself in midway through the story: suspended in azero-gravity environment but moving with graceful assurance.