Could have been much better!

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2007)

Unfortunately i didn't like the movie as much i thought i would. I hate when this happens, a movie is built up by everyone, and in the end it's a big disappointment, for me at least. The story is nice, but i didn't like the storytelling, it lacked detail and it was dull. The characters weren't completely defined: for instance, i would have liked to know more about what they had done during the time Eisenheim was away. It would have given me a sense of what he has become.
The casting was awful: Paul Giamatti is NOT cut out to be a badguy, even if in the end we found out that things were completely different. Rufus Sewell lacked the elegance of a prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, don't get me wrong i like him very much (in Tristan + Isolde, for example). Not even Edward Norton, a very very gifted actor, could not make his role work. The only pleasant surprise was from the part of Jessica Biel. I didn't realise how talented and beautiful she was up until this movie.
The twist in the plot at the end wasn't predictable, i admit, but it lacked the eloquence it needed to pull it off. Goof: (in my opinion) the private show for the prince takes place before the two of them decide to run away. But in the end the writers are telling us that the gems from the sword, used to frame the prince, were taken that evening from the sword... COME ON
All this movie accomplished for me is the fact that i got to see Edward Norton one of my favorites, and rediscovered Jessica Biel for the bright, young, talented actress that she has become.
Thank you for your time...
Andrei.