Fairy tale set in Vienna.

Rating: 6/10 (25 June 2007)

I must agree with the comments indicating that the material covered in this movie would have been enough for a short story only and is - somewhat- insufficient for 110 minutes.
The aforementioned mystic aura of some sort is the best part of the Illusionist. The performances are fine as well- Edward Norton is, as always, very good at what he is doing, and Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell are also okay.I am very sorry Liv Tyler could not do the part of Eisenheim's love interest in the end, as her fairy-like person would have added a lot more to the mystique of the film.
You get to figure out the tricks of Eisenheim on the way along with Inspector Uhl. You do not get all of them explained. If you prefer explanations, go watch Prestige instead.
The music did the plot well and underlined the magic greatly, although in a somewhat repetitive manner. The camera works so well you get your eyes glued to the screen - even if you won't probably bite your nails in excitement.
The major problem is that while the Illusionist keeps you watching if you are a fan of myths & magic, it certainly does not hold a great plot twist. So no big surprises can be expected there. The ending is quite predictable. This is a pity because there is a lot of potential to the story, and there certainly would have been a lot more to the setting, and the characters, and the actors portraying them, if only it had been tapped.
Crown Prince Leopold's character should have been exploited much more. I missed a real confrontation or row between him and Eisenheim; the one at the Prince's premises was not much of that. The death of the Crown Prince is viewed by the director in a totally detached way which surely tries to say that bad guys always die in the end, but hey, who took whose fianceé around here?
Also- even the general basis of the story, i.e., that the girl and Eisenheim are childhood sweethearts, seems quite like a fairy tale itself- it is quite unlikely that a girl of her status would have been left alone on enough occasions to develop a relationship with a boy of his standing, and go unnoticed for an adequately long period of time.
So - I recommend you watch the Illusionist for what it is -a somewhat romantic fairy tale set in Vienna, in the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the troubled and magic times of the great Eisenheim. And it is very good as THAT.