Inception ending

"Inception" messes with your mind, but in a good way.

The latest cinematic conundrum from director Christopher Nolan, who gave us "The Dark Knight," "The Prestige" and "Memento," "Inception" studies what it means to dream and the power of one's mind to manipulate and accept that reality.

It's not a simple concept to sum up (you can try reading the review), but the science fiction elements rely on your believing that one person can extract information from another person's subconscious. This is done by invading the target's dreams and being able to "read" what that person knows in their dream landscape. Thus, a secret could be hidden in something that appears to be a combination safe or a bank vault in the other person's mind.

The danger, of course, comes in the idea that these dreams seem real, and our hero Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has far too much experience with walking that fine line and getting trapped there. "Life is just a dream" isn't just a line from a children's song, but a concept that philosophers and scientists have been playing with throughout time.

Is the way we perceive the world actually "true" if it's filtered through our sometimes faulty perceptions? Could there be an argument that what we experience in reality is not in fact reality?

We won't spoil the ending of "Inception," for those who haven't seen the film, but we linit ourselves to say that Cobb is involved. The film will spark a debate about its ending, and which side one stands on could be telling about one's personality.

We'd like to open the floor to debate here -- with the caveat to readers that any discussion in the comments will likely be SPOILERY. You've been warned.

"Inception" is currently in theaters nationwide.

What did you think about the ending of "Inception" -- besides that it was brilliant?