What A Dark, Dreary and Dopey Story!

Rating: 1/10 (17 February 2007)

Is it a sin to want have an enjoyable time when shelling out my hard earned money? Is it too much to ask to have the story make a tiny bit of sense? Am I being unreasonable to want to at identify with, or even like, at least one of a story's characters? In my humble opinion - that's not really asking for too much!
When driving home from the theater, it crossed my mind that the two magicians are like Karl Rove, (the Republican party strategist and America's #1 Faustian) - they will do absolutely anything to "win!" As far as the story's two main character's are concerned, that means even commit murder (repeatedly in one case), or drive one's wife to suicide! Perhaps the filmmakers were attempting to drive this point home - there are people like our two magician madmen in the real world!
While the word "obsession" is mentioned about a hundred times in this godforsaken story - it's misleading, like a magician's trick. What this film is really about can be summed up in four words - "the banality of evil." How ordinary people can lose track of the simplest of concepts - "right and wrong. "The ends don't justify the means. Being famous, powerful, "and the best" is not more important than love, family, community, friendship, or even one's soul! What a terribly demoralizing story!
The only very small bright spot in this entirely dreary film, was bringing Nikola Tesla, the great inventor and energy theorist into the story. His genius is absolutely fascinating. Too bad most viewers will think he's a fictional character like the rest of the story, instead of an important historical figure! It's a shame the story didn't evolve around him! It would have been a tad bit more entertaining! (Put his name through any reliable search engine, and see for yourself!)