Mysteriously lacking movie magic

Rating: 5/10 (30 September 2006)

The Illusionist isn't the worst film I've seen all year, but it certainly is the frontrunner for being the most boring and emotionally disconnected. Edward Norton plays Eisenheim an illusionist who has returned to Vienna to win back the love of his life, Sophie (Jessica Biel) from Crown Price Peopold, played by Rufus Sewell, in serious douchebag mode. But when the Prince learns of Eisenheim and Sophie's relationship he tries to have him locked up, with the help of Chief Inspector Uhl, played by well by the always amazing Paul Giamatti, but the powerful illusionist uses his mysterious ways to bring down the Prince and reclaim the woman of his dreams. That's pretty much the gist of what The Illusionist is all about. On paper it's an interesting and well constructed romantic mystery, but on film it sorely lacks one important component that is needed to bring all the pieces together - chemistry.
The chemistry between Norton and Biel isn't present enough to build up a relationship worth investing in. Individually the performances are all fine, but the passion that connects them just isn't there. It's the kind of thing that can make or break a film like The Illusionist, and in this case the film comes off so disconnected and flat that I just wasn't hypnotized by the film's plot. I saw the film's magic, but alas I did not feel it. However the film does have some good performances (kudos to Norton for playing mysterious very well) and the sets and costumes. The film also manages to put together a pretty decent surprise ending, but looking back on it now it's seems so obvious, I actually feel rather stupid for actually falling for it.
Music can have a massive impact on how a film is interpreted and experienced. Sometimes if a musical score is too prominent or overly submissive it crushes a particular scene, killing any or all drama from the performances. A lot of the times it's the horror genre that goes overboard with the musical score. The Illusionist may in fact be the first serious drama that I've seen where an abnormal lack of a dramatic score actually hurts the film as a whole; giving the film a sense of emptiness and ultimately one of boredom. I'm actually quite surprised in a lot of the highly positive reviews for this one. I think at best, The Illusionist is okay, but nothing more. Perhaps in the hands of a more experienced director like Martin Scorsese or Ridley Scott I would have been more emotionally swept away with the film's magical mischief. I say skip this and wait until Christopher Nolan unleashes The Prestige later this month. Now that's one magic trick I can't wait to take part in!