Are You Watching Closely?

Rating: 10/10 (6 November 2014)

It's Interstellar week so my quest to go back and review all of Christopher Nolan's previous films continues.
The Prestige is another one of Christopher Nolan's non-linear films that gets better after every time you watch it. It's one of the reasons his films make incredible amounts of money. They require you to go back to the theater and re-watch the film any number of times. I love everything about The Prestige. It has two of my favorite film characters of all time in Alfred Borden and Robert Angier. Both are incredibly deep characters that seek power and legacy. They are rival magicians who get caught up in besting the other and tend to lose people closest to them along the way.
It's non-linear structure works to it's benefit by showing flashbacks and flash forwards of them reading each other's diary which has the many tricks each of them have used. As we find out more about each character, we find out that it's become a lot more personal between the two than we previously thought. Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale give terrific performances that have become a bit understated. But the men aren't the only ones who give great performances, as Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall give incredibly powerful performances as well. Hall hadn't been in any big movie to this point so her ability to hold her own up against Bale and Jackman is unprecedented. Scarlett is as sexy as ever but also surprisingly effective as an assistant to both of them at various points in the film. It's another film that you don't really want to know a lot going in without being spoiled. All I can say is, you will be shocked enough to press play again once the credits roll.
Nolan's work here (in only a few month shoot & production) is impeccable. He is quite simply one of the greatest storytellers we have today and has an incredible knack for interweaving multiple story lines and a complicated script into something extraordinary. He's also the best at ending a story. Every one of the endings to his films have been perfect and stayed true to his respected characters. I hope Interstellar gives us another memorable ending for the ages.
+Bale & Jackman
+Friendship that became a rivalry
+Nolan's effective non-linear structure
+Hall & Johansson's powerful performances
+That ending though..
10/10