Reminded me of the Usual Suspects

Rating: 10/10 (22 February 2007)

Which is saying something because The Usual Suspects is in my top ten movies of all time. I felt the same way watching The Prestige as that film. It has a real mystery, who-dun-it, who is Keyser Soze feel to it. I would be surprised if other Suspects fans didn't love this movie as much as I did.
The first wonderful thing about it is that you have two of the most talented and charismatic actors of their generation playing against each other. I really love this match up and they both brought it. It's probably Hugh Jackman's best role so far. Christian Bale has had a more impressive resume so of course he's great here. But I thought they really complemented each other.
The story itself is great. It's about two magicians competing against one another with vendettas intact. Great stuff. An interesting thing for me was the parallel of dueling real life magicians Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison. It was just a little touch but I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, once the rivalry really gets going it wraps around itself so many times that it pulls you in tight. I do admit to having figured it out before the end, but instead of feeling cheated as events unfolded the way I hoped they would, I just got more jazzed. I actually had unconvinced myself of one of my guesses only to have it turn out to be true which is the same thing I did with the identity of Keyser Soze. That's probably why I'm so reminded of that movie.
I think that The Prestige is better than most of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture this year. I think the costume design is the best I've seen lately. Christopher Nolan hasn't done anything wrong yet. And I do think this is his best film.
I actually have forgotten what the rating is for this film but I would recommend for most people over 10, who enjoy magic and mystery and great film-making.