Not sure if I should use spoiler boxes or not… I suppose the whole thread can’t be spoiler boxed. I guess I’ll box some stuff for now.
I’ve watched the movie three times now (once a year ago, weirdly enough while I was on a ten-hour flight, and twice just now) and this just suddenly came to me (I want to say in a dream, but OK, not really. I was in my bed, though):
When Mal is out on the ledge at the hotel, why doesn’t Dom
tell her: "Honey, about that idea that you have, that the world isn’t real… Thing is, I planted that in your mind to get us out of Limbo. I know, I know, I’m really sorry about that. Now will you come in? I’ve got champagne, and it’s getting warm."At that point the audience doesn’t know about all that, but Dom knows, because, doh, he did it. So why doesn’t he tell her? Sure, she would probably have been right pissed off, and she doesn’t seem to be the kind of person you want to piss off, but at least she would probably have been a whole lot less likely to
jump off.Yeah, I know that there is a cop-out answer that can be used to explain everything that’s a bit odd in Inception, but apart from that, is there a proper answer? I guess I could have missed something, there’s a lot of stuff going on in there.
He didn’t tell her for the very simple reason that she wouldn’t have believed him. Mal didn’t merely suspect that the real world was a dream, she “knew” it. She was totally convinced that this was true, and believed so strongly that she was not only willing to commit suicide but to frame her husband for murder in hopes of convincing him to commit suicide too. You can’t talk someone out of a powerful delusion that easily.
I guess one might wonder why he didn’t try telling her the truth anyway, but I think the audience can assume that he did try this at some point and she didn’t believe him then.
I think Dom was in denial about what he had done. His visions of Mal are due to his need to admit it to himself, which he doesn’t do until the discussion at the very end.
THAT’s your plot hole? That in the seconds Cobb had to react to the situation, he couldn’t convince a deranged woman he performed a feat on her that most professionals in their industry think isn’t possible?
How about more fundamental plot holes like dying in a dream while under sedation puts your brain in limbo but dying in limbo bumps you back up a level?
Cobb is in shock and is panicking. The one he loves is on a ledge about to jump, because of him. He’s overwhelmed by guilt. At the same time he does what he thinks is the right thing to say - find something that will get her off the ledge.
Cobb:
If you jump, you’re not gonna wake up, remember? You’re gonna die.
Now, just step back inside.
Come on. Step back inside so we can talk about this.
Mal: We’ve talked enough.
After that she tells what she’s done with the attorney. Cobb is not able to think straight and he’s in denial. He knows what’s about to happen. He knows it. But can’t do a think to stop it. He’s blaming himself for it. He knows it’s over. There is not a thing in the world he can tell Mal to stop her from what she’s about to do. In desperation he says “James and Phillipa are waiting for you!”. Nothing. She falls to her death as he watches on helplessly.