Great Story, Lifeless Acting

Rating: 7/10 (19 February 2007)

The Prestige, the newest film from acclaimed director Christopher Nolan(Memento, Batman Begins) is an extremely well written and thought provoking film that makes the viewer think about what is happening in the film. It is a film that may require multiple viewing for a complete understanding of the story. As far as scenery and production, the film succeeds on all levels. That being said, the film's biggest flaw is this: the acting is wooden. While the characters are well written and developed, the actors fail to convey any sort of emotional pull for their characters. The two leads, Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, are both talented actors, a fact which is not in doubt. However, their performances fail to captivate the audience to care what happens to them. Michael Caine gives as usual a capable performance, but his character really doesn't affect anything. The same goes for David Bowie. Scarlett Johansson is wasted as Jackman's assistant who abandons him for Bale. She comes off as a gold-digging woman who doesn't really love either of the two magicians. The film's ending is clever, but to have been great, it would have required for the audience to still care about the fates of the two leads. The fact of the matter is that the film has a great script, as well as great direction by Nolan, but both are wasted by wooden, mediocre performances.