A little confusing, but excellent performances make for an otherwise great all-around film

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2006)

I was stoked to see The Prestige from the moment it first began gaining buzz. Hugh Jackman. Christian Bale. Scarlett Johansson. Michael Caine. Christopher Nolan. It just had the marks for something great, and the trailers only continued to perpetuate this ideally amazing film. While the film does deliver in many instances, I cannot help but feel that it was anywhere near as good as I could have imagined. Whether I hyped it up far too much or not, is up to interpretation.
It is the late 1800s, and magicians are the key theatrical acts in London. Rupert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) are two up-and-comers who work together, and then instantly turn into rivals after a particularly devastating incident early in their careers. What follows is a tale of both men finding a means of one-upping each other at every turn, whether it be physically sabotaging the other person's act, using the sexy assistant Olivia (Johansson) to help get secret information, or gaining help from the even more secretive "wizard" Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, in a rare film appearance).
The thing about the film is that you have to pay attention at all times. It has moments where the film feels speedy, and others where it feels downright slow. But no matter what, something integral is always happening. Despite it being told in a particularly bizarre narrative structure (the present flashbacking to the past flashbacking even further into the past, and then back again), the film follows the key three-part magic act sequence (which any trailer fan should probably already know about). The film suffers here because it does not really stay consistent with the direction it wants to go in, and becomes a bit confusing and inane as a result. It may be a bit of a struggle to grasp the structure at first, but slowly becomes more easily accessible. At times it works strongly, but in others, it just feels like it wants to toy with the audience and do nothing else. We know every little detail matters, but should the material not be a little more solidified than it is? A bit of extra padding and focus here could have helped greatly.
Being a period piece, you can see the great care and devotion taken to ensure that the film looks like it is occurring at the turn of the twentieth century. It may be dark, but there is just enough light to shine through and make everything all the more colourful. The costumes are all lavishly gorgeous, as are the backdrops and set pieces. It feels distinctive and authentic, but not to the point of being overkill. The score is just about perfect, and the editing really helps to act as the drive of the film. The great British accents are all highly in tune with the rest of the feeling of the film as well, even from the American actors.
Jackman and Bale are excellent in their respective roles. Right from the start, you can tell these two are steering towards destruction, and as their characters slowly move into becoming downright evil, it becomes even more of a pleasure for the audience to watch. They play off each other well in their scenes together, and their presences are downright smoldering. These young actors really show off their chops, and show off the deeper range that only a few select modern actors can even pray to be able to show. While I really enjoy Jackman as an actor, I cannot help but realize this is one of his deepest roles yet. He's very striking in the role, but at times you can see that this is one of his first real attempts at doing so. Bale on the other hand, can add this right next to his already brooding library of ranged works (his most astonishing being his turn in American Psycho), and looks like he is right at home with the material. I know they probably will not get recognition during the awards season, but I can only hope this is a taste of things to come from both of them.
Caine is great as the wise manager character that he has perfected over the years, and Bowie's small performance is practically intoxicating. He does not play the character up too much, but he plays it with just the right amount of intensity demanded. He is complemented by Andy Serkis, who thankfully plays a real-life character and not one made totally out of CGI. It was something different to actually see him literally acting, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it be just as good, if not better, than his CGI-work. Although they only have so much they can do, the three main female characters, Johansson, Piper Perabo, and newcomer Rebecca Hall all perform excellently, and work well off their co-stars. I would have liked to have seen a bit more material being used by these three, but they really stand up well against their much more heavily used male co-stars.
Inevitably, the comparison to this year's "other magician" film, Neil Burger's The Illusionist, must come up, and thankfully, it works at about the same level. They both have strong acting (although the female acting is far superior here), a good storyline, and beautiful sets. If anything, The Prestige feels like it wants to accomplish more than it can handle. Thankfully, it does not become too overbearing, but some of the confusion the film generates really does detract from it.
Although not as good as Memento or Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan has added another strong film to his short resume, and continues to prove his worth in Hollywood. I can only hope that the audience does not get too overly distracted by the film's structure problems, and can truly appreciate this all-around great film.
8/10.