Inception is a great little romp that combines thrilling action with a story that’s as head spinny as Leo DiCaprio’s spinning top.
I have just two complaints about the movie: the sheer amount of exposition in Christopher Nolan’s script and that goddamn tease of an ending with the spinning top. Look, I just want a definitive answer to “did Leo managed to reunite with his kids in the real world” and I’m certainly not alone in that sentiment.
After eight years of fierce debate over whether Leo’s spinning top dropped or not, we finally have an answer from the one and only Michael Caine.
The veteran actor was quizzed about his thoughts about Inception‘s ending during a recent London screening of the movie, and his explanation was surprisingly definitive.
“When I got the script of Inception, I was a bit puzzled by it, and I said to him, ‘I don’t understand where the dream is’. I said, ‘When is it the dream and when is it reality?’ He said, ‘Well, when you’re in the scene it’s reality.’ So get that — if I’m in it, it’s reality. If I’m not in it, it’s a dream.”
So it turns out that my wish that Leo be finally reunited with his kids in the real world actually does happen and it wasn’t just some horrible dream (within a dream).
You know what, I’m glad I finally got closure on the damn movie. I’m just a little annoyed at myself at how I didn’t pick up on Caine’s explanation after watching the movie three times.
The question that now remains is how to fix Christopher Nolan’s love of exposition, and that’s something I’m not sure even the great Michael Caine can answer.