The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie
"Eames, you mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling"; "an idea is like a virus, resilient, highly contagious, and even the smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you"; "you're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure"; "don't think about elephants. What are you thinking about?"
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:05Read transcript
- Eames's 'you mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling' gets an immediate ding-ding-ding and a suggestion the rest need not be read; one host dislikes the quote despite the great line reading and the grenade launcher, because it is confusing about who controls the rules when it is not his dream level and he is not the architect, and the film never gives clarity on how his forgery works.
- The logic objection is called the concern of a serious fantasy consumer; another host was more bothered by how customs works than by the grenade launcher, but concedes that if any participant can change a dream at will it contradicts the idea that Cobb corrupting the dream world is a fundamental flaw that keeps him from building.
- Much in the film happens because the film says it can, deus ex machina after deus ex machina, like suddenly clarifying that you can make a new gun; the hosts ask why stop at a grenade launcher rather than a laser gun, and feel the dreams could be more creative.
- Cobb's opening line that an idea is like a virus is liked a lot, though one host holds that an opening line can never be a movie's best because screenwriters always try for a grabber; it is noted the dialogue around it mentions intestinal worms, and it states the point of the film right away, which is both lame and compelling.
- Cobb and Mal's 'you're waiting for a train' riddle is called a good one and evidence of very good dialogue; one host asks whether Mal's 'don't know for sure' to Ariadne versus Cobb's 'can't know for sure' in limbo was intentional.
- The reading offered: the change is intentional because Mal is the projection of his guilt and regret, the regret named in Saito's leap-of-faith speech, so Cobb rationally says can't while his guilt says don't, maybe you should have known; a side note insists we all die alone despite Saito.
- Another liked line is 'don't think about elephants', with the note that it references a psychological book of that name, so Nolan is ripping someone off once again.