Icebox Games

Rating: 5/10 (12 April 2015)

Lovely but inert, "The Illusionist" stands and falls on the basis of its trickery, both in its story and its visuals. If you aren't the questioning sort, you may be entertained, though not too deeply.
The film opens on a provincial stage in the old Austria-Hungarian Empire, where a police chief inspector named Ulm (Paul Giamatti) is about to arrest a magician named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) in mid- performance. A lengthy flashback then shows us how Eisenheim's love of the Duchess von Teschen (Jessica Biel) caused him to create a unique show involving the promise of life after death that threatens the stability of the empire and the heir to its throne.
A term credited to Alfred Hitchcock, "icebox scenes," come into play a lot in "The Illusionist." Basically, they are scenes that you take at face value the first time you view the movie, but wonder about after, maybe while getting a glass of milk at the fridge. As the subject in "The Illusionist" is visual trickery, you are meant to wonder after at how what you see comports with what actually happens.
It doesn't quite gel, though. Trickery in "The Illusionist" is often of an artificially-enhanced variety that adds to an already-yawning distance between audience and characters.
Part of this comes from a story which never takes off. There is a stuffy, "Masterpiece Theater" vibe about "The Illusionist" with its fancy décor and costumes, as well as its focus on class and overall sense of restraint. The cinematography takes advantage of beautiful Czech locations, but overdoes the sepia tones; while a Philip Glass score is alternately hypnotizing and soporific.
The performances also keep you at a distance. Norton is very slick and assured in the lead role, but as usual with him I found myself disengaged. Giamatti is similar; a game performance but a bit too stiff. Biel wears the mantle of her gorgeousness with accomplished grace, but her character's romance with Eisenheim is the film's weakest element. "The only mystery I never solved was why my heart couldn't let go of you," is what passes for love talk between them.
The one standout element of this film for me was Rufus Sewell's dynamite performance as the film's heavy, Crown Prince Rudolf. Sewell plays his part with an understated arrogance that blends deftly with the ambiguity of the character as written, a political progressive with an imperious air and a reputation for hurting women. He also gives an otherwise too-quiet Norton a chance to draw sparks from someone else.
There's much potential for icebox talk with Rudolf, yet whenever he's not on screen the film contents itself with gaudy demonstrations of Eisenheim's trickery, prompting icebox talk of another, less happy kind. You wonder after at the improbable string of coincidences that seem to fall into place, the way Eisenheim's magic is pulled off so flawlessly in unlikely ways. It puts more attention on the CGI and director-screenwriter Neil Burger's story contortions than the film can safely handle.
Burger does offer a smart film here, and deserves credit for keeping a potentially outsized story from getting out of hand. There is a lot of charm on offer, and worthwhile moments. But the emptiness at the center is hard to ignore. As illusions go, this won't keep you wondering at the icebox very long.