Mesmorizing plot but more illusions than bargained for

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2007)

The Illusionist is a very captivating movie, a little bit moody and dark at times, containing many twists and turns which keeps you guessing to the very end. There are some beautiful scenes, entertaining special effects, and some interesting cinematography during flashback episodes. This movie is very loosely based on a true story about the Austrian Habsburg royal family, when in 1889 Archduke Rudolf and his mistress Mary Vetsera committed suicide. There were strong performances by Edward Norton, who plays the very austere and mysterious illusionist Eisenheimer, and by Jessica Biel who plays the pouty and beautiful Duchess Sophie. Even though it is a love story  boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again years later and must fight to have her - I did not find as much chemistry or passion between the two as I would have liked. The villain in the movie, Prince Leopold played convincingly by Rufus Sewell, was easy to dislike with his big ego and selfish manners, matching his wits against Eisenheimer as they fight over Sophie. This movie has one critical and nagging flaw  there was absolutely not a single shot of the city of Vienna, instead they decided to film in Prague and keep calling it Vienna. It would be like watching Sleepless in Seattle and having it filmed in San Francisco. I have been to both European cities, and some streets in Prague do resemble Vienna because they share similar Baroque architecture. But to not film at the sprawling Hofburg palace complex in downtown Vienna or the famous stately Schoenbrunn Palace is a crying shame. There were certainly a lot more illusions than I had bargained for in this movie.