Eminently Forgettable, If Somewhat Bizarre At Times

Rating: 3/10 (12 May 2009)

Give "The Illiusionist" credit for being a pretty good period piece, which seems to recreate Hapsburg Austria pretty faithfully (notwithstanding the fact that there was no "Crown Prince Leopold" - a character apparently loosely based on the real-life Crown Prince Rudolf) and also for having some pretty strong performances - especially from Edward Norton as Eisenheim, and from Paul Giambatti as Inspector Uhl. Those couple of positive notes, though, weren't enough to save a bizarre and confusing story which tries to mix a magician's tricks with a murder mystery.
Essentially, Eisenheim gets entangled in the murder of Sophie (Jessica Biel), a woman engaged to the Crown Prince but who, in the past, was passionately in love with Eisenheim himself. She ends up being murdered, and Eisenheim is convinced that Leopold is responsible. The movie never explicitly identifies Leopold as the murderer, but it is clearly implied. Significant parts of the movie are told in flashbacks, especially near the beginning as the past relationship between Eisenheim and Sophie is portrayed. I thought the story was weak and lacked any real sense of excitement; anything that would grab a viewer and really pull them in. Because of the positive points I mentioned at the beginning, I'll rate this as a 3/10.