incredible, should be watched more than once

Rating: 10/10 (11 September 2012)

Watching a movie ten times is stupid. Unless, of course, that movie is The Prestige. When my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to watch it again, I was more than happy to acquiesce. You may be wondering how someone's attention could be held after watching a movie so many times. It can be summed up, quite simply, by the fact that Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director. He manages to take a movie that has one of the most simple themes and build an intricate plot around it. The movie focuses on the competition between two magicians as they each strive for supreme success. Along the way, they each face the hardships of death and the slow decline into obsession with their work. In one of the most influential scenes of the movie, one of the characters is begged to give up his quest for greatness because it will only bring him sorrow. He, of course, does not heed this warning, but I will not go deeper into that to avoid spoilers. Along with the way Christopher Nolan developed a brilliant plot, he did an incredible job of casting his roles. Hugh Jackman plays one of the magicians, Robert Angier, and Christian Bale was cast as his competitor, Alfred Borden. Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, and David Bowie each contribute vital side characters and stories. Ultimately, this movie was created to get your mind thinking in ways that are very far outside of the box. There are some supernatural events, yet it is easy to relate to certain characters in the film. One of my girlfriend's complaints was that she did not know who she was supposed to like in the movie, but I think that was Nolan's purpose. He wanted the viewer to look at the film from all perspectives and not be fixated on just one of them. I don't even like writing a review for this movie because it is one that almost needs to be entered with a completely open mind.