What in the movie is real & what's an illusion?

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2007)

This movie actually surprised me. I'm no big fan of Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti is the kind of actor who impresses you in one movie and disappoints you in another. I have barely heard of Jessica Biel so when I heard the line-up, I was hardly jumping up saying "YES! let's go and watch this!". But after finally watching it, I am forced to admit that this time I was badly wrong because I enjoyed every minute.
Norton plays Eisenheim, a magician and illusionist who is able to perform magical illusions which no-one can explain. He is dismissed by some as a fraudster and a charlatan (especially by the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince whom Eisenheim humiliated in public) but in general, the public love him and his shows and they are all sell-outs. It's this humiliation which I referred to that causes the Crown-Prince to order the police (a chief inspector played by Giamatti) to shut down Eisenheim's act and drive him out of town. But Eisenheim has no intention of leaving because the Crown Prince's fiancée is actually a childhood sweetheart of Eisenheim and the Illusionist is determined not to lose her a second time.
Needless to say, the Crown Prince doesn't take kindly to a charlatan and a trickster moving in on his girl and so he sets out to bring down Eisenheim by trying to discredit the illusion acts. You can guess already that Eisenheim is two steps ahead of the Crown Prince and a plot is hatched so he and his sweetheart can finally run away together.
A sub-plot has the Crown Prince plotting to overthrow his father, the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire so Princy Boy can take over. This is obviously high treason and Mr Prince decides that the Illusionist is a threat to his cunning dastardly plans.
The acting was really good and the script is great. I highly recommend this movie to anybody interested in this type of story.