LOVED the trick with the canary!

Rating: 6/10 (15 January 2007)

Performing magic shows is literally a 'tricky' business. Unquestionably these magicians are good artists, as they have to disguise a presumably very simple and logical trick and build a whole show around it, but at the same time the whole concept quickly tends to get boring. Just because you automatically presume there's a simple explanation for every illusion, you risk losing interest and I was more or less worrying that the movie would suffer from this exact same problem. It isn't very interesting to hear Michael Caine enlightening us about the different phases of a successful trick and it's even less interesting to constantly hear about two beginning magicians wanting to become the biggest performers of their time. Personally, I wasn't really hoping for a thriller revealing a lot of magic-secrets. I was merely anticipating a dark & sinister post-Gothic portrait revolving personal vendettas and macabre set pieces. And for the largest part, The Prestige actually delivers! The man in the director's chair is Christopher Nolan, and both "Memento" and "Insomnia" already proved he's a terrific storyteller, as he has the talent to bring an ordinary tale much more complex than it actually is. Nolan once again uses as irregular narrative structure, with jumps back and forward into time and well-camouflaged hints that eventually all lead to a gigantically grotesque denouement. Robert Angier (Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian "Batman Begins" Bale) are two gifted pupils of the already legendary 'engineer' Cutter (Michael Caine), both treasuring the ambition to become the nation's biggest magician. A regretful accident, resulting in Angier's wife tragic death on stage, causes their friendship to turn into intense competition and pretty soon they spend even more time sabotaging each other's shows than actually building up their own acts. When Alfred Borden eventually presents his perplexing Transported Man trick and Angier can't possibly decipher the logic behind it, the rivalry turns into a dangerous obsession that will require large sacrifices. The main attraction of this film is probably meant to be the guessing along for the tricks and the detailed exposition of a handful of basic magical acts, but honestly that whole aspect impressed me the least. With just a tad bit of concentration and the experience of having seen similar mystery-thrillers, the red herrings are fairly transparent. Also, the whole set-up of Robert Angiers ultimate act (with the help of pop star David Bowie in a remarkable role) is simply impossible to take serious. Whatever remains, however, is definitely worth watching. The mysterious late 19th Century set pieces are intriguing, especially the transporting machinery which seems to be inspired by the "telepods" in David Cronenberg's "The Fly". The detailed illustration of magical tricks didn't really fascinate me, although there's one notable exception: the disappearing canary! It's a cruel and pretty offensive old-school trick, but hilarious in case you have a weird sense of humor. Quite embarrassing, because I was the ONLY person in a sold-out theater who was laughing with this sequence. The acting performances are top-notch, but with an ensemble cast like this we wouldn't accept it any other way. Particularly Christian Bale is terrific, since his naturally mysterious charisma is ideal for a role as a magician. Scarlett Johansson's part is rather small, but her beautiful appearance helps cheering up the dark sets a lot.