Inception was to the summer of 2010 what the Jheri Curl was to the 80s. Which means it was AWESOME. Okay, bad example.

So, unless you were a FedEx employee whose plane crashed in the South Pacific, leaving you stranded on an uninhibited island only to befriend a volleyball named “Wilson,” you heard all about Inception. I hope that reference did the trick. Boom. Roasted.

Hot off his 2008 billion-dollar blockbuster The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan revisits his Insomnia and Memento roots to create a mind-bending thriller that explores a somewhat new territory for him: science fiction.

Inception centers around Dom Cobb, played by the always worthwhile Leonardo DiCaprio.

The concept is simple, yet quickly becomes complicated. Cobb is known as an “extractor,” a thief who is able to enter people’s minds through a “dream-sharing” technology and steal their most inner secrets and ideas; things that can build cities, transform the world or rewrite all the rules.

Due to his criminal past and previous extractions, Cobb can never return to the United States to visit his children without risking imprisonment for life. Luckily, a new client named Saido (played by Ken Watanabe) has the sufficient funds and connections to have the charges against Cobb dropped. The catch: Cobb must successfully complete one last mission: inception.

Contrary to the concept of stealing an idea, inception implies that Cobb and his team must in fact plant an idea. Luckily, Cobb has the best in the business on his side. Ariadne (Ellen Page) is the “architect” who creates the world of the dream. Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the “point man” who researches and analyzes the targets and their ideas. Eames (the brilliant Tom Hardy) is the “forger” who can take the form of others within a dream to manipulate the planting or taking of an idea.

In order to do this, the team must delve four levels down into their target’s subconscious. As the team ventures further into the mind of their target, so do they venture into the mind and subconscious of Cobb. Cobb’s haunted past and difficult relationship with his wife (Marion Cotillard) quickly begins to send the mission awry. Lines between the real world and the dream world quickly blur, and the audience is left guessing until the very end.

Conceptually, this is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The idea is incredibly original and utilizes themes and motifs throughout that would rival most classical playwrights. This is, in large, thanks to the smartly written and well-crafted script by Christopher Nolan.

Leonardo DiCaprio is responsible for being the emotional center of the film, and boy does he deliver. This is DiCaprio’s most subtle, restrained and internal performance to date. He merely sits in his character and chews on everything he is given in the script. He could have just as easily grounded the film in a forceful manner (like that of his other 2010 effort, Shutter Island), but he goes in a direction I have never seen him go before, and thus the film is rewarded with an incredible additional layer.

Director Christopher Nolan has made a phenomenal movie here; there is no question of that. Yet, there are still a few qualms. Inception is very competently made, but artistically, it doesn’t tap into much. In the past, Nolan has achieved amazing creative and aesthetic levels, the Batman films included. It is clear that a movie like Inception is very text/concept driven and, therefore, shouldn’t venture in too many directions, but the cinematography and even the special effects suffer substantially throughout.

Lastly, Nolan creates a missed opportunity and spoils his all-star cast. Besides DiCaprio, Cotillard and Hardy, Nolan, doesn’t let his actors do much acting. The movie becomes so incredibly plot and concept driven that a lot of the emotion becomes muddled, and some of the characters are neglected in the process. Luckily, these three performances overcome any major flaw, but the audience will still feel let down in this aspect.

Since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recently increased the Best Picture category from five to ten, there is a very strong possibility that this will be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, generally any acting performance released during the first two-thirds of the film year goes unnoticed. However, because of DiCaprio’s brilliant double-billed work in both Inception and Shutter Island, he could quite possibly be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in this picture. Who knows?

I would recommend this movie if: 1) you like movies that make you think as it plays and long after the credits roll, 2) you like the well-written dramatic science fiction genre and 3) you are a Leonardo DiCaprio fan. Highly recommend this.