Originally Posted by frost

That's what they say, but I'm convinced the ending was that he was not dreaming. Although, I feel the ending was more about the fact he went from a guy who put a gun to his head while waiting for the top to fall to a guy who didn't care about the top. The point was that it was real for him, so it doesn't matter if it was real to the audience.

That being said, there are a couple things that lead me to believe he was not dreaming. First off, the top was wobbly, whereas in the dreams the top would spin perfectly without any wobble. Secondly, while the kids were wearing similar clothing, they were indeed different. Next, Cobb has a wedding ring on when he is dreaming. He does not have a ring when he is awake. None of these are rock solid arguments of course, but enough to sway me to believing he is awake.