It's subtle and keeps the story from lurching into something too big for its britches

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2006)

Based on Steven Millhauser's short story, Eisenheim the Illusionist, this beautifully shot period piece is fairly hokey and completely predictable. That said, I still had a lot of fun watching it come together.
It's a typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back story with Edward Norton as Eisenheim, a sleight of hand artist, who falls for the wrong dame, Sophie (Jessica Beal sporting some big choppers and a nice plump heinie in the final shot). She's an aristocrat, way out of his poor boy league. The two are separated by the powers that be, only to be reunited years later when Eisenheim becomes the toast of Vienna and Sophie attends one of his gigs with her almost fiancé Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell doing the darndest Jude-Law-with-ridiculous-mustache impersonation I've ever seen). Also on the scene is Paul Giamatti as Chief Inspector Uhl. He's doing his best to maintain law and order while also favoring the Crown Prince in hopes of political advancement.
There's lots of intrigue with more than enough special effects to go around. Luckily, Eisenheim's illusions are all flash bang wowzer stuff. It's subtle and keeps the story from lurching into something too big for its britches. This is a little film and, rightly, the tricks are small as well. I enjoyed the old time look of the film (the center of the picture is very clear while the edges seem soft and there is a distinct flicker to some flashback scenes) and was able to overlook the odd "we're in a foreign country so let's all have English accents" staple.