The Prestige - promises and delivers

Rating: 8/10 (21 October 2006)

Before going to this movie, you may want to consider reading up on Nikola Tesla and his nearly invisible presence in the history of modern electricity. I'll explain later.
Going to this movie I expected magic, love, rivalry and maybe even the supernatural. There was definitely magic, although the movie itself did not feel magical. However, that should not keep you from seeing the movie. There was love, but I did not love this movie as I was watching it. There was rivalry and plenty of it. And "supernatural"? Well, I still struggle with that because one of the mysteries of the movie has quite an interesting but unresolved history.
In my opinion most people are going to see this movie because of the excellent actors and the potential for supernatural thrills. What I fear is that most people who see this movie will not know how to relate Tesla to the "supernatural" and magic of electricity. So, for your own good, check out Wikipedia or some other resource for information about Nikola Tesla. If you know the story of Tesla and his experiments, you will find the movie and ending even more satisfying. Remember all through the movie what the three parts of the magic trick are - the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige. Does Michael Caine only refer to the tricks the magicians perform or does he have a deeper message? Does Christopher Nolan have a deeper message? I for one, think he was very clever with the ending.
Performances, twists, the ending and direction make this movie well worth the money for the viewer who wants some intelligence out of a movie that promises magic. It can be slow but it gives you time to think(I needed plenty of that).
I pledge 8 of 10 canaries.