Ed Norton is back with a bang

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2007)

After several years of saving a lower cinematic profile, Academy Award nominee Edward Norton (Primal Fear, Fight Club) came back with a bang during 2006. In The Illusionist, Norton manages to create a unique and mesmerizing figure in the shape of the tortured magician Eisenhem, who is torn away from his childhood girlfriend, Sophie (Jessica Beil). Paul Giamatti is wonderful as inspector Uhl, who questions Eisenheim's ethics and methods, as he tries to woo back Sophie from the Crown Prince Leopold, whom which she is currently dating (currently being the 19th century).
While the final twist in this film is somewhat week, the movie manages to stay visually stunning nevertheless, largely due to a very sharp cinematographic style by Dick Pope.