subject: Inception Explained [print this page] But there is a difference between great puzzle-making & great art, & Nolan no longer seems to understand the difference. By my measure, the film comes to life exactly four times, as Cobb & company debate about descending yet another level of unconscious, & Page's Ariadne interrupts to ask, "Wait, whose unconscious are they speaking about?" It is a brief burst of playfulness & humility in a film otherwise choking by itself pretention & self-importance.
