A mixed bag of tricks.

Rating: 7/10 (3 November 2006)

The Good: Great plot twists, very cool magic tricks, and of course, Michael Caine.
The Bad: Three alternating time lines is confusing most of the movie, some of the twists are easy to spot before they are revealed.
Too Small: The role of Scarlett Johansson's character.
Any movie about magicians has to satisfy one cardinal rule: have lots of magic tricks to totally dazzle the audience. The Prestige follows this with true style, and the first time you see Alfred (Bale) perform his trick, "The Transported Man," your jaw will be hanging down as you think, "how the hell did he just do that?" It's moments like that that make this movie lots of fun to watch, but you will certainly long for more than they give you, taking into account the length of the movie. At two hours and twenty-one minutes, it's like a roller-coaster going at half-speed. Sure, there's thrills, but it still leaves everyone hungry for a boost in the pace. Probably the best (and worst) example of this is a moment in the film's finale when, as a certain character dies, his last breath seems to come out twenty different times for him to spit out a Shakespearian soliloquy before he finally croaks. You can practically hear everybody in the theater thinking the same thing: "Just die already!" Before you check this movie off of you "must-see" list, however, take into account that despite the length, this movie is quite entertaining. The story of two competing magicians seems like it might be as dry as a bone, but the grudges that Alfred and Robert (Jackman) hold against each other are not just about pride; they are genuinely driven by heart and soul. It's easy to see how much these to guys hate each other, and don't worry about not knowing why, because you'll find out within the first half hour of the movie.
As far as performances go, not enough can ever be said about Michael Caine. His brilliance as an actor steals ever scene he's in. Jackman has probably had his best performance thus far in his career, except maybe for Swordfish. Bale is terrific as always, bringing every part of Alfred right into your face. Scarlett Johansson also does a great job, but her role was far too small, and at the end of the film you'll be wondering why her character, Olivia, wasn't explored a little more.
When you actually do go out and see the movie, a fit of confusion is going to come over you quickly, possibly lasting into the last 40 minutes. It's not the plot twists that will confuse you; those are pretty ambiguous, and many people will call them out before they are revealed. No, the way this movie hurts your brain is with its three time lines, which alternate between scenes. In the beginning, Robert is dead, and Alfred is going to prison. Then, all of a sudden, they are young, up-and-coming magicians. And before you know it, we're with Robert in Colorado, as he tries to find the secret behind Alfred's greatest magic trick. Sometimes, you will think that these time lines come in sync with each other, but I'll save you a lot of of confusion right here: they don't.