Genre: Sci-fi
Synopsis: A man finds a way into the inner-workings of the universe using his mind.
About: This is the hottest, most top-secret, most desired script in town. Christopher Nolan's next film.
Writer: Christopher Nolan
You know when you go fishing and you're hoping to catch something, anything, so that you don't go home empty-handed? You start off looking for bass, without getting so much as a nibble. Then it gets a little later in the day and you downgrade to salmon. Then, as you see the sun setting on the horizon, you're just hoping for something with gills on it. And just as you're packing up and cursing the world, you feel a tug, and then another tug, and then you realize this is not just any fish. You just caught a goddamn whale. That's how I feel today.
One of the great things about this website is meeting more and more people who are higher and higher up on the Hollywood food chain. The things I've been sent - some only hours after they hit the street - I've been astounded by. And I want you to know that I don't take any of it for granted. I thank you guys every day! But I was not prepared for the call I received and for the script that I was sent at exactly 2:39pm on Tuesday afternoon. The most top-secret heavily guarded script in town. Christopher Nolan's "Inception". I know you guys are dying to get to it, so let's not waste any more time.
When I first heard that Inception was a "sci-fi actioneer set within the confines of the mind" I got real nervous. There are many directions this idea can go and most of them suck. "The Cell" was the last movie to tackle this subject, and while it had some of the coolest looking set designs and costumes I've ever seen, it was a really stupid film. Inception, thankfully, is not The Cell. Despite its incredibly ambitious nature, it succeeds on nearly every level.
The movie revolves around a man named JACOB HASTLEY, 34, a scientist and recent paraplegic who's considering suicide. But when he makes an unexpected breakthrough in his life's work, he finds a potential connection between the mind and the universe that could change everything we know about ourselves. Upwards of five pages are dedicated to explaining Hastley's work, but I'll summarize it as best I can: Since the universe is infinite and the mind's capacity to think is infinite, there must be a way to move between one and the other.
He continues this research and eventually finds a doorway between them. This doorway allows him to travel anywhere in the universe through a specifically designed thought algorithm. In essence, it's a way to travel anywhere without actually traveling. These first traveling scenes to other solar systems and galaxies are some of the highlights of the script. Nolan takes us to worlds that defy everything we know about physics, matter, space and time. It's hard to describe but he writes it as if we are inside of his mind, thinking it, just like he is. It's a risky choice as a writer and like nothing I've ever seen on the page but it totally pays off.
Unfortunately it isn't all cake and ice cream. Jacob learns quickly that he's not the first one to have found this doorway, and that other "travelers" have been alerted to his entrance. This sounds a little bit like that awful movie "Jumper", but these people aren't Samuel Jackson in a silver wig. They're people with an intellectual capacity "150 times larger than the average human". Which is one of the cool things Nolan plays with. You know that old saying that we only use 5% of our brains, or whatever it is? The "inception" teaches us how to use the rest.
What I like about Inception is that there's no bullshit copout Kubrick nonsense here. This isn't 2001 where even though the movie makes no fucking sense everybody wants to say that they understand it. Inception has a purpose. Jacob must find the truth behind the origin of the universe (its "inception") before the other travelers catch up to him.
The real power in Inception lies inside its mysterious and complicated cast of characters though. LISA, a certified genius, is Jacob's estranged wife who left him after he was paralyzed. She coincidentally shows up the day after his first journey. KANSAS is a dog-whisperer who seems to have an otherworldly connection with the animals she teaches. TARK is only 37 years old yet wiser than any man you've ever met. How does he know so much? And then there's ISABELL, a blind woman who will stop at nothing to see again.
I rarely find anything that lives up to the hype. Michael Jordan and maybe freshman year of college were it for me. But Inception defies everything I ever thought I knew about movies. It is a riveting journey both emotionally and viscerally. It is truly astonishing. I pray Nolan doesn't deviate one iota from the script. I can't wait.
script link: Inception (get it while you can cause it probably won't last)
Edit: Sorry! Forced to take it down.
[ ] trash
[ ] barely kept my interest
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[x] genius
What I learned from Inception: How that in order to come up with true genius, you must sometimes ignore every single rule you know about screenwriting and just go with your heart. At its core, screenwriting is still an art. It is still the sum of your experiences expressed through your interpretation of the world. No equation or rule should impede upon that.
EDIT: Because the comments section was being inundated with requests for the script, I had to turn them off. People, I CANNOT give this script away! I'm sorry!
