The real scenes in the film are made intentionally dreamlike at points to emphasise the idea that Cobb hasn't sorted his life out and hasn't "come back to reali

The real scenes in the film are made intentionally dreamlike at points to emphasise the idea that Cobb hasn't sorted his life out and hasn't "come back to reality", still obsessed with his lost wife. That plus reality in Hollywood films is seldom very real anyway and usually involves cuts to faraway locations.