'Inception' Mega Thread *SPOILERS FROM POST 292 ONWARDS*

BlitzKrieg

if limbo is an empty space, wouldnt saito know thats not reality? if i was there i'd definitely know

Ok...

desert island comparison

robinson crueso

Castaway (with tom hanks)

and any other film involving someone stranded somewhere away from civilisation for a long time.


Limbo is exactly the same

except alot worse

Yes for the first year you would know its all a dream but you would still build stuff to stop yourself going crazy with boredom

and yes the second year and possible the next half decade you'd think the same


but about year 6 (which would be less then 30 seconds in reality) you'd start forgetting details. You'd remember the idea of reality but you wouldnt remember what was different from it to what is in front of you

and slowly over a decade or two you would forget that there was a reality, it would be the dream and limbo would become the reality.

All the while only a minute would have passed in reality.

and if you know it is not reality you can get yourself out of limbo(eg like shooting yourself) straight away then.

Except earlier in the film its stated that to get beyond level 2 they had to take the sedation to keep it stable, so you can assume that chances are very high that if you are in limbo you are sedated.

Also to get into limbo would require sedation because it works via broken chain.

Getting in limbo is when you cant exist on one plain (you're body is dead there) so you are forced out of it. This should push you to being awake or to the plain above you.

Now

When Cobb's partner gets shot in the 2nd plain in the dream in the opening, he moved up to the plain above them, He didnt go straight to waking up.

Saito was shot on the 1st level and died on all 3 levels at the same time (hence the showing of blood through all 3 levels) his chain is broken

Cobb because he did not jump out with the rest looses his physical form in all the levels above him via the explosions + drowning. Hence he is also stuck in limbo

Now here's the important part. Fischer goes to limbo because of the drug. Normally if he was shot on level 3 he would have woken up on 2. But the drug forces him to limbo.

but because of the drug's loophole with the inner ear, being thrown out of a building pushes him out of limbo back to level 3 when he gets revived by Mad Max. Equally they all get pushed up to level 2 when the floor below them gets blown out and fall (and Cobb looses his body on 3) and up to level 1 when the elevator is falling recreating a sense of gravity (and cobb looses his body on 2) finally on level 1 none of them jump to reality except the chemist cause they all missed the fall. Hence they wake up and cobb drowns. All they had to do after that is throw themselves off a building.

The problem with Cobb and Saito is they have no links with levels 1-3 anymore, killing themselves now in any form will just send them back to limbo.

When the drug has worn off they can get out anyway they want, but not before that as the chain between them and reality is broken and they are too deep and need the chain to get them back.

and if you know it is not reality you can get yourself out of limbo(eg like shooting yourself) straight away then.

Dont worry about the projections discussion, that just came from an observation that we dont see any except for the train when Cobb talks about limbo in the flashbacks and Mal, and when we are in limbo with Cobb we only see Mal. So I was surprised that the first projections we see in limbo are simply gaurds, it was a bit confusing.



The real question is why didnt they throw Saito over a ledge before travelling down to level 2.

Saito falls, inner ear goes off, he goes from level 1 - reality. No longer a problem, focus on the mission.

Miss Lockhart

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

The real question is why didnt they throw Saito over a ledge before travelling down to level 2.

Saito falls, inner ear goes off, he goes from level 1 - reality. No longer a problem, focus on the mission.

I thought this was because Cobb believed Saito would only keep his side of the bargain if he was there in person to see the proof of Inception?

krudler

The real question is why didnt they throw Saito over a ledge before travelling down to level 2.

Saito falls, inner ear goes off, he goes from level 1 - reality. No longer a problem, focus on the mission.

but doesnt the kick need to be felt by the dreamer in reality? or at least 1 level up, so from the first level that would be Saito on the plane, if that were the case then the van flipping over and falling down a hill would have kicked them all back out of the hotel section.

BlitzKrieg

krudler wrote: »

but doesnt the kick need to be felt by the dreamer in reality?

how could any of them fall in reality? Its never shown if something was set up and considering everyone missed the synced kick except the chemist that would mean they all got stuck for a week on level 1 being chased by goons.

Also they synced the kicks using music, nobody played music for the chemist to sync the kick in reality and when they kicked back up if he was in reality he didnt play it for anyone else.

There was never any mention of a kick in reality and its never shown in any prior scenes.

if that were the case then the van flipping over and falling down a hill would have kicked them all back out of the hotel section.

No cause they were in level 2 when the van was flipping over etc. You need to be concious in that level for the kick to work, if you are in level 2 or 3 actions in level 1 affects the world around you, not you individually (hence the gravity mishaps etc.

Its like in the first dream, Cob gets kicked into the water. That doesnt kick him, instead it floods the dream below, he kicks himself back to that level instead himself.

I thought this was because Cobb believed Saito would only keep his side of the bargain if he was there in person to see the proof of Inception?

true, but the risk of taking him along was alot worse then an issue of mistrust, If saito went to limbo he was at a very high risk of forgetting everything.

Yes if he was kicked back to reality he would have a mistrust of Cobb initially and Cobb would end up in custody, but when it became clear that Cobb did his job then Saito can pull his wait to release him.


I asked this on Imdb aswell, I think the only reason so far would be if Saito is unconcious then a kick wont work, which meant they knew he was f*cked to go to limbo from the beginning (as he couldnt kick out of level 1 no matter what) and Cobb had to go to limbo and was only trying to shorten the timespace he would have to spend in limbo.

which would also explain how he knew he had to stay regardless of not confirming if Saito had died yet or not.

krudler

Also they synced the kicks using music, nobody played music for the chemist to sync the kick in reality and when they kicked back up if he was in reality he didnt play it for anyone else.

There was never any mention of a kick in reality and its never shown in any prior scenes.

They show the kick in reality during the workshop scenes, JGL is seen being pushed off his chair a few times while sleeping to wake him up.

Sad Professor

Its like in the first dream, Cob gets kicked into the water. That doesnt kick him, instead it floods the dream below, he kicks himself back to that level instead himself.

Does he? How? I just remember the room in level 2 being flooded and Cobb standing there (the shot from the trailer) and then he wakes up in the bathtub in level 1.

Valmont

To be perfectly honest, I didn't find this film that confusing at all. I had to double take a few time to make sure I knew what was happening but it didn't get away from me at all. Great film by the way, very clever.

BlitzKrieg

JGL is seen being pushed off his chair a few times while sleeping to wake him up.

firstly he wasnt hooked up to a machine in that scene they were testing if the drug worked as advertised, so he wasnt kicking up through the levels of anyones dreamstate, it was just confirming if the inner ear was indeed unaffected by the drug.

secondly how did the chemist kick out?

He jumped the van early (due to being trapped on the bridge) and kicked out during the jump (he's gone when we return to the river after the sync kick), he got no music to queue his kick to reality and no means to have someone in reality push him over in sync with the others.

Also when Cobb returns to reality he is in the airline chair they started with and nobody else had moved from them. You cant exactly fall of those airline chairs in the same manner as a fold up chair and cobb wasnt on the ground or anything from being pushed off it. neither was Saito

BlitzKrieg

Sad Professor wrote: »

Does he? How? I just remember the room in level 2 being flooded and Cobb standing there (the shot from the trailer) and then he wakes up in the bathtub in level 1.

without the sedative dying pushes you from level 2 to level 1 and then to reality. Cobb most likely died from the impact of the water on level 2

if the kick on level 1 woke up level 2, there wouldnt have even been a flooding of level 2 Cobb would have woken up before he hit the water as he was middair

Also if the kick on level 1 woke up someone on level 2, Then Cobb's partner would have been kicked when the van went off the bridge on level 1.

The kick cant come from above.

Sad Professor

Okay, but are you sure that Yusef kicks back to reality when the van hits the water? I mean, level 1 was his dream, so if he woke up, how could they still be sitting on the riverbank in his dream at the end?

I've only seen the film once, but my assumption was that the kicks had to be in sync just to bring the dreamer back a single level. i.e., the inner ear in the upper level had to feel it, and the mind in the lower level had to experience it. This is why Ariadne jumped at the end in limbo, but if there hadn't being an accompanying kick above, she wouldn't have gone anywhere. So throwing Saito off a cliff in level 1 wouldn't have accomplished anything, because there was no kick in Reality, they simply had to wait for the sedative to wear off.

Fischer being pushed off the building in limbo was the exception to this, of course. However, Eames shocking his heart in the above level substituted for the kick, so he woke up in level 3.

I really really need to watch this film again.

sprinkles

Surely they only kick back into reality when the drugs on the plane wear off. When the van hits the water it kicks them back to that level - it doesn't wake them up. Think about it, a kick in reality (as long as you're not sedated) brings you back to reality. A kick in level 1, brings you back there. It happened with Cobb in the dream within a dream when he was dunked into the water, he immediately came back to the hotel room where they had Saito hostage, however we know that was level 1 of the dream.

Sad Professor

Yeah, the sedatives were too strong. The only "kick" back to reality was when the sedatives wore off. There was no way out before that.

However, even at the start of the film, I still think a synced kick was required. Had everything gone according to plan, Cobb would have leaped off of something in level 2, while simultaneously falling into the bathtub in level 1, thus waking him up. But instead everything went awry and Cobb didn't have a chance to do this in level 2. So instead, the water flooding his dream killed him as BlitzKrieg said above, kicking him back. The only reason this worked was because of the weaker sedative.

Deliverance

Has anybody seen or mentioned the reverse 'citizen Kane' aspect of this movie?

The tycoon on his deathbed with the world in his hands passing on the legacy to his son. The legacy of the paper windmill in the safe i.e. 'Rosebud'?

The new tycoon i.e. the son would carry on the legacy of his father in a more positive way by realising what life was really about ,thereby improving the world by the power he had inherited by his 'less disappointed' father via a cathartic experience?

It really was a cathartic experience wasn't it for the son at the same time it was a so called business move by the rival company based on the technology professed.

I found that to be a brilliant nod to the Orson Welles classic. The movie in itself was not entirely original but it was a brilliant artistic move on the part of the director and writer. To me it combined existing ideas in a creative way.

I have to say that I enjoyed it thoroughly. The symbolism, detail and cleverness of the plot was second to none.

seraphimvc

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

When the drug has worn off they can get out anyway they want, but not before that as the chain between them and reality is broken and they are too deep and need the chain to get them back.

you know Blitz you can summerize almost everything you typed with only that sentence:D

if i rephase them into my words: the wake up rule from limbo is actually = If you die in limbo you wake up in reality (as soon as the sedative wears off).

but still tho, we cant 100% be sure of whether 1.Saito built his world in limbo and Cobb found him or 2.that limbo was Cobb/Saito previous world.

and of course either way Saito must have spend decades in limbo before Cobb find him/arrive.

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

The real question is why didnt they throw Saito over a ledge before travelling down to level 2.

Saito falls, inner ear goes off, he goes from level 1 - reality. No longer a problem, focus on the mission.

that could be a way used by Nolan to maintain the suspension throughout the mission:pac:

or it was because Cobb illogically wanted him to stay to see the proof of Inception so Saito can keep his side of the bargain despite all the high risk Saito would need to take - one of the point that support the 'bad ending' theory.

seraphimvc

sprinkles wrote: »

The reason Saito looks older, a lot older is that he was in Limbo a few minutes in level 4 time before Cobb went in, that would be years in Limbo time.

i believe at this point everyone in this thread is fully beware of that:D

but how how did exactly Saito age in limbo?

1.Saito built his world in limbo(he aged and thus look old) until Cobb found him or
2.that limbo was Cobb/Saito previous world, Saito waited and aged until Cobb arrived

sprinkles

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, the sedatives were too strong. The only "kick" back to reality was when the sedatives wore off. There was no way out before that.

However, even at the start of the film, I still think a synced kick was required. Had everything gone according to plan, Cobb would have leaped off of something in level 2, while simultaneously falling into the bathtub in level 1, thus waking him up. But instead everything went awry and Cobb didn't have a chance to do this in level 2. So instead, the water flooding his dream killed him as BlitzKrieg said above, kicking him back. The only reason this worked was because of the weaker sedative.

I'm still not convinced on this. I had thought that the kick would just bring you back but it would only work on 1 level. For instance, if you were on level 3 a kick on level 1 would not bring you back. You needed a kick on level 2 first. Once you were "awake" on level 2 then the level 1 kick would work (hence the van falling off the bridge didn't wake everyone up - they were still too far down). Then once the sedative wore off, bam, real world All the kicks that occurred were close to being simultaneous but I had thought that for dramatic effect in that they whole thing wouldn't have worked if they hadn't been brought up the levels in time and in sequence. For that reason the music acted as a warning rather than a signal to start the synchronised kick, it was to let the dreamer know that he had x amount of time before the kick on the level above happened and thus he had to bring everyone back to that level.

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

The real question is why didnt they throw Saito over a ledge before travelling down to level 2.

Saito falls, inner ear goes off, he goes from level 1 - reality. No longer a problem, focus on the mission.

He'd have to receive a kick in reality, on the plane to bring him back to reality. It's possible as the sedative doesn't effect the inner ear, they could sit him up in the chair, and let him fall back but who would give him that kick as they are all in the dream sequence. A flaw in the planning process perhaps, but at the same time how would anyone awake realise he needed a kick?

Deliverance

Great review here.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/07/inception_theory.html

Note that it is a total spoiler to those that have not seen the movie...

sprinkles

seraphimvc wrote: »

i believe at this point everyone in this thread is fully beware of that:D

but how how did exactly Saito age in limbo?

1.Saito built his world in limbo(he aged and thus look old) until Cobb found him or
2.that limbo was Cobb/Saito previous world, Saito waited and aged until Cobb arrived

If you read back a few people doubt it

I don't really understand your question, sorry

Sad Professor

sprinkles wrote: »

I'm still not convinced on this. I had thought that the kick would just bring you back but it would only work on 1 level. For instance, if you were on level 3 a kick on level 1 would not bring you back. You needed a kick on level 2 first. Once you were "awake" on level 2 then the level 1 kick would work (hence the van falling off the bridge didn't wake everyone up - they were still too far down). Then once the sedative wore off, bam, real world All the kicks that occurred were close to being simultaneous but I had thought that for dramatic effect in that they whole thing wouldn't have worked if they hadn't been brought up the levels in time and in sequence. For that reason the music acted as a warning rather than a signal to start the synchronised kick, it was to let the dreamer know that he had x amount of time before the kick on the level above happened and thus he had to bring everyone back to that level.

I agree. I don't think what I said contradicts this. My point simply is that there must be a kick on both levels to bring someone back. So, in the case of a two level dream, falling in level 1 isn't enough to bring you back from level 2; you also have to be falling in level 2 itself. This is why Ariadne jumped from the building in limbo at the end. If the level 3 kick above her was all that was needed to bring her back from limbo, why did she jump?

But obviously because of the chain of dreams in the film, the kicks on levels 2 and 3 severed two purposes: both to bring people back from the lower level and to ensure their return the upper level.

clived2

blue_steel wrote: »

Brilliant film. Seems clear to me that the end was still in Limbo. Cobb's children haven't aged or even changed their clothes from the last time he saw them. Also his father was living in Paris earlier so why would he be there to meet him at the airport in LA? Open to interpretation of course but thats my take.
Great entertainment either way

The children shoes have changed.... pay attention

Also heard they used different child actors,

Also you get to see their pretty little faces, didnt see those in his dreams

L'prof wrote: »

FYP. I did find it strange that he was waiting at the airport, I'll have to think about that one!

Step Dad gave him his best student, he knew the plan and was obviously on board,
Cobb mastermined an inception which went into a dream into a dream into a dream...oh you get the picture
Pretty sure he could pull of a phone call...

sprinkles

Sad Professor wrote: »

My point simply is that there must be a kick on both levels to bring someone back.

This is what I disagree with (now I'm totally open to correction here, not trying to say what I think is right!! )

A kick on a level above will bring you back, on it's own. For example, in a single level dream someone shakes you to wake you. You don't have to be falling etc in the dream.

In a 2 level dream, ala the Cobb mission to get Saito's secrets, he's thrown into the water. I think that's what woke him. He was struggling to stay asleep, to read the letters, but as soon as he hit the water he was awake. Similar to that when he woke up to the real world, he was not falling etc in his dream, he was just woken up on the train.

Sad Professor wrote: »

So, in the case of a two level dream, falling in level 1 isn't enough to bring you back from level 2; you also have to be falling in level 2 itself. This is why Ariadne jumped from the building in limbo at the end. If the level 3 kick above her was all that was needed to bring her back from limbo, why did she jump?

This is a curious point, why did she jump. To get out of Limbo you need to kill yourself. I think she jumped, with Fischer to die, not to engage a kick. I'm pretty sure they said a kick won't bring you out of Limbo. Cobb and Mal had to kill themselves to come out of Limbo. They managed it without a synchronised kick from above too... that's why I'm leaning towards it all happens from above except in Limbo, where you must die to go upwards.

Peyton Manning

Quick question that may already have been answered.

When Fischer dies, he goes into limbo. Ariadne and Cobb follow him down there.

a) How was it possible to follow him into limbo? I thought the only way to get there was to be killed in a dream under a powerful seditive.

b) When Cobb awakes on the shore at the very end, is this a different limbo? How did he get here? I thought he was already in limbo when he and Ariadne saved Fischer from Mal? Why wasn't Saito in the same limbo as Fischer?

L'prof

Just a quick question actually...when Cobb finally confronts Mal, he tells her that they grew old together already, yet when he tells Ariadne how he planted the seed in her mind that their reality was in fact a dream, they were still young. How did they grow old and then become young again before lying on the track? Or is that just Ariadne's impression of what happened? Either way, it's just a small thing really.

Sad Professor

sprinkles wrote: »

This is a curious point, why did she jump. To get out of Limbo you need to kill yourself. I think she jumped, with Fischer to die, not to engage a kick. I'm pretty sure they said a kick won't bring you out of Limbo. Cobb and Mal had to kill themselves to come out of Limbo. They managed it without a synchronised kick from above too... that's why I'm leaning towards it all happens from above except in Limbo, where you must die to go upwards.

But won't killing yourself in Limbo only work if the sedative is wearing off? I assume Cobb and Mal just waited the sedative out and when enough time had passed laid down in front of the train. This is why it was essential that they both hold on to the idea that Limbo wasn't real.

And if only an upper-level kick is required to get back to the previous level, then Ariadne jumping is indeed a problem. Also, why does Eames blow up the snow fortress for the sake of two people? Why didn't he just kick them out the window? They hadn't anticipated they would need another kick anyway. Can anyone remember if he rigged the explosives before or after Cobb and Ariadne went under? Or was there another reason for him blowing it up?

The kicks needing to be synced makes sense to me as it would also explain why the van rolling over didn't wake them up.

I dunno though, maybe I'm wrong.

Sad Professor

L'prof wrote: »

Just a quick question actually...when Cobb finally confronts Mal, he tells her that they grew old together already, yet when he tells Ariadne how he planted the seed in her mind that their reality was in fact a dream, they were still young. How did they grow old and then become young again before lying on the track? Or is that just Ariadne's impression of what happened? Either way, it's just a small thing really.

Yeah, I noticed this as well. It's not a big deal either way, but there's a few possible explanations for this. Maybe since he's (unreliably?) narrating the story, that's just the way he pictures it at that point. Or perhaps, how one ages in Limbo depends on their resilience to it. So for a while Cobb and Mal partially accepted Limbo as reality, raised their kids, grew old together, etc, but finally in lying down in front of the train they rejected it and became young again. Might explain why Saito is so much older than Cobb at the end as well.

Archimedes wrote:

a) How was it possible to follow him into limbo? I thought the only way to get there was to be killed in a dream under a powerful seditive.

No, I think Limbo was just a very deep level of dreaming, the deepest. The one that was hardest to come back from. Cobb and Mal had already been there.

b) When Cobb awakes on the shore at the very end, is this a different limbo? How did he get here? I thought he was already in limbo when he and Ariadne saved Fischer from Mal? Why wasn't Saito in the same limbo as Fischer?

No, I think it's the same Limbo. They were all sharing the same dream, so they shared the same Limbo as well.

L'prof

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, I noticed this as well. It's not a big deal either way, but there's a few possible explanations for this. Maybe since he's (unreliably?) narrating the story, that's just the way he pictures it at that point. Or perhaps, how one ages in Limbo depends on their resilience to it. So for a while Cobb and Mal partially accepted Limbo as reality, raised their kids, grew old together, etc, but finally in lying down in front of the train they rejected it and became young again. Might explain why Saito is so much older than Cobb at the end as well.

Saito is so much older because he's been a level down for longer and time passes much more rapidly the further you go down. I guess, since Cobb was in limbo and was kicked up a level after the tracks, he may have forgotten that they grew old together as he had just awoken from a dream. Maybe, when he confronted Mal, he then remembered that they had indeed grown old together...maybe

Peyton Manning

Sad Professor wrote: »

No, I think Limbo was just a very deep level of dreaming, the deepest. The one that was hardest to come back from. Cobb and Mal had already been there.

Ah right, makes sense! Cheers.

Sad Professor wrote: »

No, I think it's the same Limbo. They were all sharing the same dream, so they shared the same Limbo as well.

I see. But then why did it cut from Cobb in the room cradling Mal, to him washing up on the shore?

BlitzKrieg

L'prof wrote: »

Just a quick question actually...when Cobb finally confronts Mal, he tells her that they grew old together already, yet when he tells Ariadne how he planted the seed in her mind that their reality was in fact a dream, they were still young. How did they grow old and then become young again before lying on the track? Or is that just Ariadne's impression of what happened? Either way, it's just a small thing really.

there are three flashbacks. The first is Cobb explaining Limbo and how he and mal got out (this is done at level 1 to ariadne) the second time is when he is explaining what he did to Mal with the inception (done in limbo) again this is to ariadne. The last time is directly to Mal answering her cry that they promised to grow old together.

In the first two he is shown young and in the third he is shown old. It never mixes, its just it only shows their faces for the train tracks in the first flashback.

The third one is a film mechanic, Nolan uses the same process in Memento where they revisit scenes making a correction for the viewer to understand with the new information. They are still old when they lie down on the track, only the shot shown is not the same as before, instead its just of their hands holding over the train tracks as they shook from the oncoming train.

This is a curious point, why did she jump. To get out of Limbo you need to kill yourself. I think she jumped, with Fischer to die, not to engage a kick. I'm pretty sure they said a kick won't bring you out of Limbo.

No they said that because of the sedative killing yourself wont wake you up, its too strong, a kick is the only way to move between levels because (again) the sedative leaves the inner ear unaffected.

Cobb and Mal had to kill themselves to come out of Limbo. They managed it without a synchronised kick from above too... that's why I'm leaning towards it all happens from above except in Limbo, where you must die to go upwards.

Cobb and Mal killed themselves (as did Cobb and Saito its preassumed) the difference is they had been in limbo so long that the sedatives in both cases had worn off therefore killing themselves no longer pushed you to limbo.


Limbo is not some mystical plain that tricks you into thinking its reality that requires suicide is the only escape...Its time pure unavoidable time at its upmost powerful and all time most devestating.

a) How was it possible to follow him into limbo? I thought the only way to get there was to be killed in a dream under a powerful seditive.

Its not the only way, its the way that you are forced to go there, you can go to limbo, its simply sub concious with no maze implanted by an architect, sort of like the difference between a canal and the sea. They were able to follow by moving down like they normally do but without a level waiting for them so they in essence drop into the ocean of the subconcious with nothing to catch them.

b) When Cobb awakes on the shore at the very end, is this a different limbo? How did he get here? I thought he was already in limbo when he and Ariadne saved Fischer from Mal? Why wasn't Saito in the same limbo as Fischer?

There are a few theories being bounced around on IMDB, most I disagree with personnally, one that is kinda clever but I dont subscribe to is that when Cobb dies on level 1 by drowning he is resent to limbo again and because its after Saito dies he ends up on his limbo.

Personnally I go by his face. Cobb looks like while he has not aged by decades he has walked them, his face is all torn up and his clothes destroyed, so I think personnally like some possessed man he walked/swam to the corner of limbo Saito built his world on.

FUNKY LOVER

one question.when they are going from one level to the next how is the suitcase physically working in each dream?like someone is pressing it each time.

duckworth

My god I hated this film.

What an over-long, convoluted, juvenile mess of a story it was. It's like it was dreamed up by 14-year-old science-fiction geeks.

You know there's something up with the script when every character has to stop every 15 minutes and explain what is happening - that is bad screenwriting!!

At least the Matrix was tongue-in-cheek and didn't take itself seriously - Inception is another matter altogether.

Nolan is a charlatan and a hack, and it's starting to annoy me the amount of fan-boy respect he gets. The cut-away at the end 'is it a dream or isn't it?' - come on, that's one of the cheapest moves a director can make.

Actually, to those who've seen Adaptation - you know the other brother starts writing a movie, and it's funny because of how daft and cliched it is? It's actually quite similar to Inception.