But the decision to keep it under wraps until opening day has turned out to be a wise one. Going in blind you may anticipate Inception will just be a second-hand retelling of the Keanu Reeves sci-fi classic The Matrix. It’s not a bit.
In fact Inception is a dark and surprisingly thoughtful thriller that explores some mind-bending ideas while it’s making you jump out of your seat. Set inside the minds of each character, literally inside their dreams, in Inception anything is possible -- you can go anywhere and become anyone.
Sounds great, until you remember that dreams can turn into nightmares in a heartbeat. That’s what gives Inception its fascination and its strange power.
Nolan makes action flicks that are also completely absorbing philosophically, even when the material gets noticeably thin or contradictory. He knows how to fire on all cylinders in a way that ensures he has few equals in the thriller genre. It’s a way of working that Murphy clearly enjoys.
“If you say this film has the structure of a heist movie I would be what they call the mark. Traditionally that’s not a very interesting role to play. The layers wouldn’t be very complex, you know?” says Murphy
“But with Chris at the helm he gave my character a lot of color. I tried to play him as a petulant child who’s in need of a lot of attention from his father. He has everything he could ever want materially, but he’s deeply lacking emotionally.”
To find some truth behind his role, Murphy says he delved into his own personal life with his artist wife Yvonne McGuinness, and their two children.
“I’m a father of two sons myself, and in the role I thought about my own relationship with my dad. To add to that the idea of living in the shadow of someone so immensely powerful (in the film Murphy’s father is a tycoon and a Rupert Murdoch-like figure) must have a huge effect on a person,” says Murphy.
“I also looked at the Murdoch family and how his sons have dealt with his achievements, and it was interesting to play and to try and give him some humanity.”
Some people may be surprised to discover that when they first met, director Nolan was contemplating casting Murphy in the role of Batman in Batman Begins.
“There was a few of us going up for that role. We met years ago and I think he’d just done Insomnia. We chatted and we got on very well. He talked to me about the Batman thing and I said, ‘Me? I don’t know man. But sure I’ll come in and audition,’” Murphy recalls.
Murphy ended up playing Batman’s nemesis Scarecrow, which was a relief to him personally, he says.
“I did the test and it was obvious to me that Christian Bale was the best choice (for Batman) and he just seemed perfect for it. But Nolan saw something in the test and then he talked to me about Scarecrow,” says Murphy.
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