Hate me if you will, but I never liked Leonardo DiCaprio. I just never thought he was that good of an actor, or even very attractive… until I saw him in “Inception.” Now I’m a fan, and I’m wondering why I never liked him before.

Trailer:

For the record, I didn’t even like him in “Titanic.” There was just no chemistry between him and Kate Winslet, and he just looked so… young. That’s not an issue, at all, in this movie. DiCaprio is all adult, and the relationships he has with all of the other characters are mature, well-developed, deep, and at times, terribly painful to watch. He’s brilliant, and so are all of the other actors, including a lovely, bright Ellen Page, and a studiously smoldering hot Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Yeah, yeah, the special effects are amazing. They don’t look like special effects, either. The fine line between CGI and reality is so thin, at times, it’s nearly transparent. And the plot is deep, twisting, and satisfying. Suspense? You bet. Christopher Nolan, who wrote and directed “Inception” also did “Memento,” so it’s worth noting that in both films, time is of the essence, almost a character in its own right. The cinematography is gorgeous, the editing painstaking, and the score is wonderful.

The ending is also perfect. You’ll find yourself watching the credits as they roll, hoping to see what we all wanted to see - SPOILER ALERT! - does the top teeter over, or keep spinning? Nolan doesn’t let us off that easy. I like to imagine that, as it did in the last few frames, the top does falter and tumble over, letting us all know Leo is indeed in the real world, and not a dream.