Re: Inception (Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio) Grading & Discuss
Salt was a generic, mindless action movie. It was marketing itself as Bourne or Mission: Impossible but with Angelina Jolie instead of Matt Damon or Tom Cruise. There's nothing inherently risky about that -- trying to mimic a common formula that's proven to be successful before.
Also, there wasn't an entire thread devoted to DiCaprio's "bravery", in fact it was mentioned in the same thread as the general discussion for the movie. Just FYI.
I'm not saying DiCaprio's leap of faith was an "amazing act of courage", I'm saying that to appear in a completely original summer blockbuster not based on an established property that's also highly cerebral and intellectual was very risky, especially since he took stock in the film's box office figures, which could have bode very badly for him had the film flopped.
Had Inception been made for $60 million, then it wouldn't have been that risky since had the film didn't explode at the box office it wouldn't have been that bad for WB (however, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was made for around that amount, and it tanked, so of course there would have been some risk even then). However, it was made for close to $160 million, classifying itself as a veritable summer blockbuster along the lines of any other big summer movie coming out this past summer. There was a lot of pressure for Inception to do well based on that risky gamble.
The fact that DiCaprio took a chance on the film is commendable given that it is a highly cerebral and intelligent (and good) film being made in the summer of usual mindless crap. Hopefully we'll see more movies like it in future summers.
Actually, DiCaprio chooses his movies very carefully. He's not one that usually appears in blockbuster movies. He even mentioned that he's very lucky to be able to choose the movies he does rather than having to take whichever film offer gets thrown his way. Besides Titanic, I can't remember the last summer blockbuster that DiCaprio had starred in. He usually stars in reasonably budgeted, but award-winning Martin Scorsese pictures or films like Revolutionary Road. He's made the conscious decision not to follow in the career path of Nicholas Cage or Tom Cruise or even Shia LaBeouf who normally chooses their movies based on how profitable or high-profile they are.
So in a lot of ways Inception was a gamble not just financially but professionally as well. The success of the picture proves he rightfully had faith in the right filmmaker and picked the material wisely. Had Inception tanked, he might revert back to starring in character dramas or low-budget pictures. In fact, Inception is DiCaprio's highest grossing film to date besides Titanic. The success of Inception allows DiCaprio the flexibility to choose what movies he does even more and to obtain the studio confidence to invest or take stake or be a part of something potentially risky and unique like Inception.
To me, there's something really fantastic about that.
Salt was a generic, mindless action movie. It was marketing itself as Bourne or Mission: Impossible but with Angelina Jolie instead of Matt Damon or Tom Cruise. There's nothing inherently risky about that -- trying to mimic a common formula that's proven to be successful before.
Also, there wasn't an entire thread devoted to DiCaprio's "bravery", in fact it was mentioned in the same thread as the general discussion for the movie. Just FYI.
I'm not saying DiCaprio's leap of faith was an "amazing act of courage", I'm saying that to appear in a completely original summer blockbuster not based on an established property that's also highly cerebral and intellectual was very risky, especially since he took stock in the film's box office figures, which could have bode very badly for him had the film flopped.
Had Inception been made for $60 million, then it wouldn't have been that risky since had the film didn't explode at the box office it wouldn't have been that bad for WB (however, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was made for around that amount, and it tanked, so of course there would have been some risk even then). However, it was made for close to $160 million, classifying itself as a veritable summer blockbuster along the lines of any other big summer movie coming out this past summer. There was a lot of pressure for Inception to do well based on that risky gamble.
The fact that DiCaprio took a chance on the film is commendable given that it is a highly cerebral and intelligent (and good) film being made in the summer of usual mindless crap. Hopefully we'll see more movies like it in future summers.
Actually, DiCaprio chooses his movies very carefully. He's not one that usually appears in blockbuster movies. He even mentioned that he's very lucky to be able to choose the movies he does rather than having to take whichever film offer gets thrown his way. Besides Titanic, I can't remember the last summer blockbuster that DiCaprio had starred in. He usually stars in reasonably budgeted, but award-winning Martin Scorsese pictures or films like Revolutionary Road. He's made the conscious decision not to follow in the career path of Nicholas Cage or Tom Cruise or even Shia LaBeouf who normally chooses their movies based on how profitable or high-profile they are.
So in a lot of ways Inception was a gamble not just financially but professionally as well. The success of the picture proves he rightfully had faith in the right filmmaker and picked the material wisely. Had Inception tanked, he might revert back to starring in character dramas or low-budget pictures. In fact, Inception is DiCaprio's highest grossing film to date besides Titanic. The success of Inception allows DiCaprio the flexibility to choose what movies he does even more and to obtain the studio confidence to invest or take stake or be a part of something potentially risky and unique like Inception.
To me, there's something really fantastic about that.
