Great acting and a twisty story about magicians from Christopher Nolan

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2017)

After the success of Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan took on magicians for his fourth original film. Two magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) compete for the greatest illusion. The stage manager Cutter (Michael Caine) accuses Alfred of attempting to steal Angier's trick but murdering him instead and sends him to jail in the furthest forward storyline. The film operates on multiple story lines, one that follows Robert searching for the great inventor Tesla (David Bowie) and his assistant Alley (Andy Serkis) in Colorado, and another storyline that tells the history of Angier and Borden as young magicians. These stories come from diaries that the men read of each other. Alfred meets Sarah (Rebecca Hall) at a magic show and falls for her quickly.
In the past, Borden tries a special knot that ends up killing Julia (Piper Perabo), Angier's lover. As Borden starts a solo career, Angier confronts him during a bullet catch trick and shoots his finger off. Having had his revenge, Angier reignites his career with a new name as the Great Danton and a new assistant Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson). With the help of Cutter, he performs new tricks with special gadgets but Borden shows up to bust the birdcage and injure a participant. Desperate for a new trick and out of a show, Angier meets with Alley and finally is allowed to meet with Tesla in his hideout. This story parallels the real rivalry between Tesla and Edison over the conducting of electricity.
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