Like everyone else I was expecting a lot from Inception. I was a great fan of Dark City and the Matrix and felt that this movie would have the same flavor. In some ways it did and in some it didn't. The beginning is fast paced and sets up the characters well. You care some about Cobb but I just couldn't start feeling that this was just a rehash of DiCarpio's 'Shutter Island' as far as the plot was concerned. All of the acting is first rate but the story just doesn't engage you and you really don't care what is dream and what is reality in the end. And the middle of this movie is so slow that both my husband and I fell asleep, now that's shameful for a film that suppose to be intelligent and get into your mind. Again Hollywood has not lack of special effects but they are devoid of story once again. I think that Pixar seems to be the only ones who really look closely at the story before they do all the extras.