Remarkably smart, yet sadly dark

Rating: 7/10 (29 October 2006)

In many ways this film is about duality and extremes, and that theme also carries over into audience reaction. What works about this movie works brilliantly -- excellent cast and acting, intricate plot with lots of twists and turns to keep you engaged and entertained.
Yet what doesn't work about this movie fails in a way that is difficult to overlook. The "big secret" is unexplained, unexplored and a bit too far out there to really be believed. In a way it almost feels like the writers created this wonderful maze, but in the end couldn't figure out a plausible way to get out of it and resolve the storyline. The final "twist" is disappointingly dumb in comparison to the intelligence with which the majority of this beautifully twisty turny plot is constructed.
The other incongruity of this film that is difficult to reconcile is that the elaborate dueling of the magicians is great fun for the audience -- wondering and guessing at the tricks, what they will do next. But the obsessive competitiveness between the men themselves - the motivation behind their cleverness - is NOT fun. It's dark and sad, as both men simply sink deeper into heartless one-upsmanship, inflicting more and more damage, neither of them pausing, reflecting, or regretting -- neither learning anything.
That's why it's hard to know what to make of this film -- remarkably smart and satisfying on some levels, yet disappointingly cheap and heartless on others.