That’s the idea, at least. With his inability to let actors occupy a scene together, Nolan couldn’t pass Pathos 101, and here he’s trying graduate seminar stuff. “The catharsis” at the center of Inception is based on Cobb’s choice: whether to go on permanent vacation with his dream-memory of Mal, or to return to real life. It’s deciding between eternity with a bitchy wraith, presumably sexless, like all of Inception’s subconscious, or … that recurring sentimental snapshot-memory of his children? Dad Michael Caine, who drifts through the production? Ellen Page, barely considered for romantic-emotional counterbalance? There’s no push-pull around Leo’s torrid emoting, and when the “We’re awake now—or are we?” kicker catches you in the pants, who cares? It’s obvious that Nolan either can’t articulate or doesn’t believe in a distinction between living feelings and dreams—and his barren Inception doesn’t capture much of either.