Gary Thompson: 'Inception' a clever bit of storytelling

IF YOU DIDN'T get "Inception," Chris Nolan's latest blockbuster brain teaser, you have a chance to deconstruct it this week on DVD.

Leonardo DiCaprio is a corporate spy with the ability to drill into the subconscious, where he plants ideas in a subject's mind. He and his team (including Ellen Page) invade the mind of the heir to a business empire (Cillian Murphy), who has anticipated the move and planted mental defenses.

The details, actually, aren't all that important. It's all an excuse to allow Nolan to try something new in movies - he tells a story on six different simultaneous levels, at six different speeds!

And he succeeds. It's quite a feat of storytelling, though whether you care about any of the people involved is another matter.

Also this week: "Restrepo," Sebastian Junger's documentary about a company of soldiers in a dangerous outpost in Afghanistan. It's raw footage, crudely assembled, and that's good. It gives you a feel of what life is like for the men, the challenges they face. Impossible challenges, it often seems.

There's also "Cronos," a riveting Mexican horror movie that helped establish the reputation of Guillermo Del Toro.