The Con with the emotional pay off

I was watching the monstrous blockbuster of the year, Inception, a couple of nights and was thinking about some of the things that I had heard about it through interviews. I remember hearing the man himself, Chris Nolan, saying that he had wanted to make a con movie set in the mind. I remembered hearing him talk about when he was writing the script he realised that it would have to be a con that took place on an emotional level, instead of a material one, especially if a huge portion of the movie takes place in the subconscious which then triggers an emotional pay off.. I am paraphrasing here so don't hold this as exact quotes.
So looking at it you understand how and why he made that decision and it was fantastic that he realized this. Yet I remember hearing this exact concept from another writer/director in an interview and after
pondering for ages I realized who said person was, Rian Johnson - Director of the brilliant Brick and the con movie with an emotional pay off, The Brothers Bloom.

The Brothers Bloom only came out last summer here in the UK and only then limited so this blogger had to ascertain the film on DVD. I am a huge fan of Brick and watched the Brothers Bloom with keen interest. Now I read and watched interviews, the few that I could find, of Rian Johnson for the Brothers Bloom and I remember him saying that he wanted to make a con movie with an emotional pay off.


Now both movies go about this in a different way. Inception delves into the subconscious to explore this where as Brothers Bloom foes about pretending that it's about the material that escalates into the emotional. Now it is unfair to both movies to compare and contrast. Inception and a bigger budget a well experienced and loved director at the helm and the movie had a huge marketing campaign.
The Brothers Bloom had a director who was going about his second film which had a piss poor marketing campaign, especially in the UK, and had a development time less than that of Inception (although ten years for Inception is not the norm)

But what I want to put to you is how well do you think both movies go about the emotional pay off. Inception has the pay off for the characters but possibly not for the audience (with the ending) and Brothers Bloom has it for the characters but does the audience care, did they go about this con in the wrong way?

A huge part of this is if 1. the characters attain the emotional pay off 2. the audience cares 3. how they go about gaining this pay off and 4. does it work?

This is a great example of how the same concept (although not completely the same) can be taken in very different directions. Do you think that either fulfilled this ambition? Do you think either went about it in the right way? Did you care how either ended? Do you think it could be done in a better way? Drop comments bellow and let me know.

(Both directors are currently moving forward with their next picture. Rian Johnson is filming his new Sci - fi thriller Looper and Chris Nolan is soon to film the eagerly awaited Dark Knight Rises)