It Had Its Moments

Rating: 5/10 (23 June 2009)

I found the most interesting part of this movie to be the behind the scenes look at some of the tricks used by illusionists and magicians. The broader story has great potential. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play rival illusionists in late 19th century London, whose rivalry goes beyond just a fun competition and becomes dangerously obsessive with ultimately tragic results. All that sounds pretty good, and both Jackman and Bale were solid in their roles as Angier and Borden respectively, as was Michael Caine as Cutter, Angeirs' assistant. Spoiling the story somewhat for me was a sort of mini-subplot about the rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Edison is never depicted in the movie, while Tesla is played by David Bowie of all people. That rivalry was very real of course but dissolves into a bit of a farce here, as Tesla has supposedly invented some sort of teleportation device that Angier wants to use in his show. A simple and obsessive rivalry would have been quite sufficient without that dive into sci-fi silliness. I also have to say that while the movie certainly had its strong points, for the most part the story just didn't take hold of me. I found it a little long and slow-paced at times, and in the last 15-20 minutes there just seemed to be too many twists and turns happening, which again took away from the story's credibility. In the end, my reaction was that this was OK, but nothing more. 5/10