Weighing in on Inception now is like pondering the cost-benefit equation of the Vietnam war - it is too late and too murky a field to get any leverage in. But it's also a hot topic that anyone seeing it wants to wade into and wave their hands about, since they and they alone have cracked it.

Suffice to say, the one unarguable good of the success of Inception is to show studio moneycounters that remakes and barrel-bottom scrapping is not the only way forward.

For me, the best question to ask about Nolan's film concerns the apparent "depth" that it offers up. And a recent rereading of the script for Minority Report added much to this for me. Another sci-fi blockbuster with philosophical underpinnings, Minority Report never got the same heated debate or acclaim as Inception has.

But on the page at least (no accounting for the Cruise/Spielberg effect in the final film), Minority Report brings  a strong narrative and good characterisation to bear on a fascinating set of profound questions - issues of free will, destiny, memory, and the nature of the state control. It's deep stuff with a great plot. With no gratutious jargon or superficially complex plots in sight...

Whatever the ultimate assessment of Inception turns out to be in years to come, the directorial skill and style of Nolan is unquestioned. And when you hear him talk about his work, it provides a hilarious counterpoint to current interviews with M Night Shymalan, whose fragile ego and bitter streak is seeping out all over the globe right now.