"Inception" takes us from silliness to terror, from the cheesiest moments of a summer action flick to scenes of wonder, beauty and the deepest of human emotion. It is the ultimate escapist art. For two hours, we are lulled away from the realities of global warming, war and the gulf oil spill with the idea that we human beings can experience dreams shared with others, and that skilled dream architects can craft our dreams to be what they want them to be, or what we want them to be--or what complete strangers want them to be.


This manipulation is what Cobb, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, wants. Cobb makes the high stakes gamble that he can use a dream state to plant a thought in the mind of the heir to a corporate empire. That planting is inception. He gathers a team of crack dream crafters and sets out on his mission, all the while failing to tell those working with him that something in his own personal dreamscape may put them all in danger.


Sure, writer-director Christopher Nolan toys with the idea that many believe--that dreams create our reality--but, more than that, he uses the dream state as a stage for the film's most stunning visual effects and moments. A cityscape bends over on itself, with the streets and cars overhead. Bombed out skyscrapers sit by the seashore and occasionally plunge down into the surf. A dead spouse appears in the flesh to plead her case for neglect and abandonment.


All of these dreams are vivid and real, so real in fact that the story convinces us that those dreaming can fight, shoot and drive a van though Manhattan-like traffic. Most importantly, it convinces us that there can be a dream within the dream, and then another dream within that. Each layer of the dream goes deeper into our subconscious and closer to our deepest fears and loves. Annoying one moment, and then engrossing the next, Inception is one of the few films that forces you to forgive it of its over-indulgences and sins. All the while, it keeps you guessing and wondering until the end--and even after the end.


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