Has holes, but a decent film nonetheless

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2008)

Was it just a coincidence that two movies about magicians with a period setting were released within the space of a few months of each other? I don't know, but needless to say this film is always going to find itself being compared with Christopher Nolan's 'The Prestige', and it's always going to find itself in second place because Nolan's film is a hell of a lot better than this one. The two films are similar in that they're both thrillers, both focus on retribution and, obviously, both are based on magicians. This one is based on a short story by Steven Millhauser and focuses on a man named Eisenheim. As a boy, Eisenheim falls in love with a girl a few social classes above himself, but their relationship is broken up for that very reason. Cut to years later and Eisenheim is a successful magician in Vienna. He meets his long lost love during a show and they quickly rekindle their relationship; but being together is a problem as she is engaged to the Crown Prince...
After rising to fame with the likes of American History X and Fight Club in the late 1990's, it has to be said that Edward Norton has been a bit of a disappointment ever since. He really was due a good performance, and while his role here isn't as great as the ones that made him famous in the first place; he performs well and the film definitely represents his best work in years. Norton is given excellent support from the likes of Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel, and the acting is high quality on the whole. As mentioned, the film features a period setting and with the help of some glossy cinematography, it mostly looks very nice. The film is obviously intended to be a thriller, although there isn't a great deal of suspense featured. The plot does remain interesting for most of the duration, however, and there is usually just about enough going on to ensure that it doesn't become boring. The film builds up to a twist at the end. I didn't see it coming myself, though I'm sure many others will. However, in spite of this it is fairly well worked, although the audience is asked to suspend disbelief more than just a little. But even so, this is decent enough entertainment and I did at least enjoy it.