A great story, but not a great movie

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2006)

As I sat in the theater, engrossed in the kind of story I love  complex, intriguing, and mysterious, I wondered why I wasn't enjoying it more. I found myself trying harder to tie the action on the screen to Nikola Tesla's real work than to tie together the many seemingly loose ends of the story.
It was a good movie, no doubt, but it seemed a shame not to do more with a story that had so much potential. The problem, I finally realized, was this: there were a number of key events: dramatic, exciting, and violent events that were underplayed to the point of being almost lost in the background. After lingering over a rather dull conversation, the cameras would speed past an amazing and startling event, leaving me to visualize the event in my head long after the camera had gone on to another long conversation. Furthermore, I found it impossible to gain any rapport with any of the main characters other than Cutter, played superbly by Michael Caine, which prevented me from investing myself in any hoped-for outcome. Eventually, the movie just seemed too long.
Perhaps, the reason for the rather strange approach, emphasizing words over actions, was that the clues are in the events, not the words, and the filmmakers wanted to promote the film as a suspenseful story full of twists and turns  a movie that would challenge the audience. The problem is that there is nothing really very challenging about the movie. Anyone who follows the events will understand what is going on.
Considering the dearth of quality in the Hollywood product, "The Prestige" is definitely worth going to see, especially for anyone who is interested in the art of illusion. But, a story this good should provide a lot more.