Death Defying Acts
Tags: paranormal, historical fiction

Plot synopsis:
In 1926, 13 years after his mother's death, illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) has begun debunking mystics, psychics and others who claim to have paranormal powers. He offers US$10,000 to anyone who can quote his mother's dying words to him.
Impoverished and uneducated Scottish con artist Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) set their sights on Houdini's reward when he visits Edinburgh on tour. Mary's psychic act pulls in the public: Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience, information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones.
Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman (Timothy Spall). Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious.
Sugarman's main desire is to see Mary and Benji gone; they claim they will be gone for good once they secure the reward for finding out what Houdini's mother said to him on her death bed. Sugarman realizes he can't get rid of them as easily as he had hoped. Mary is caught trying to open Houdini's chest and covers up by saying she was just searching for something to channel the psychic energy of the deceased.
Benji gets the key to the chest from Sugarman. When Mary and Benji fail to turn up any useful information, they turn again to Sugarman. He tells them that Houdini was out doing a show and missed seeing his mother before she died. When the time comes, Mary is unable to perform the experiment and attempts to leave. At this point Benji starts having a fit on the ground and claims to be channelling Houdini's mother on her death bed, uttering the words of the Kaddish and addressing Houdini as "Ehrich", his real name, and speaking partly in German and partly in German-accented English asking where he is, and why he is not with her. This could be interpreted as either a genuine seance or a very skillful and convincing impersonation by the young artist. When the note he wrote to confirm the veracity of the experiment was removed from its safe and shown to be blank, Houdini reveals the "eternal shame" he feels because he wasn't able to reach his mother before she died, and thus was unable to comfort her in her moment of death, or to hear her final words. The McGarvies are awarded the $10,000.
Mary is disgruntled because she believes Harry does not love her as she believed. When he says he does, they become romantically involved before Houdini leaves for his last performance, in Montreal. During his travels, he is climbing a set of stairs when a "Red-Haired Prankster" punches him in the stomach while he was not prepared, rupturing his appendix, eventually killing him.

Review: It was enjoyable, had beautiful cinematography, elements of humor a story of love and life...however implausible it may be, it does not detract from elegance of watching Catherine Zeta Jones(Mary McGarvie) try to support herself and her daughter, matching wits with the great Houdini.Catherine displays a grace and style combined with fire and drive.
Her daughter provides moments of comedic relief and there is tension between Catherine and Guy Pearce - should she win the money at any cost, allow herself to fall in love, what is in the afterlife?
This will definitely be a short review.The film tells the story of mega-famous magician and trickster Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce - Memento).
Something unexpected happens the moment he arrives at Scotland, though - he falls in love with psychic Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), whose daughter and "apprentice", Benji (Saoirse Ronan) approached to accept his scientific challenge.If that small plot summary sounded simplistic, that's because it is.
The movie is not particularly ambitious, and that's maybe why I was left overwhelmed by it - there's so much to say about a figure as famous and recognizable as Houdini, and the film decides to focus on something decidedly dull.
Catherine Zeta Jones is pretty good too, sporting a credible Scottish accent (!) and trying to portray Mary as a sympathetic figure despite the fact that the writers' don't seem to like the character.
Timothy Spall - as Houdini's manager - is great as always, but the real standout is Saoirse Ronan.
(Who was also really amazing in Atonement, by the way.) It's not only that she portrays the most developed, interesting and fun character, it's also that she brings it to life - Pearce and Zeta Jones' performances are precisely that (performances) but Ronan seems to be inhabiting her character, definitely putting a lot of passion into a project that arguably doesn't deserve that much.Despite the fact that Death Defying Acts is already available on DVD and Blu-Ray in most countries, I got to see it in theatres.
(Cinematography is gorgeous, though, and the score is beautiful.) Performances - especially Ronan's - are what save the film from entering the realm of mediocrity, but if you really want to watch a magician's flick, I'd recommend either the Illusionist or The Prestige..
What had drawn me to watch Death Defying Acts, is that it's a story with Harry Houdini, arguably the greatest illusionist and escape artist of our time.
A few days ago I was browsing through a book which revealed the secrets behind his brand of death defying acts, and really he's a man of science, engineering and most of all, a performer to bring to life the act of fooling an audience into believing his stunts.
In fact, you can count the number of stunts which involve Harry Houdini, and the filmmakers left that for another biographical movie that someone else should pick up on.
What we have instead are glimpses into the man's personal life, and Guy Pearce provided quite an intense and charismatic Houdini with personal demons of his own to do battle with, though the story seemed to rein him in from dwelling too much on that aspect, and preferred to have a more romantic tale weaved in.The romanticism of the movie is not with his illusions, but with a single parent who's a psychic of sorts, relying on her street smarts to get her own act going.
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Mary McGarvie, who has to rely on her wits to build credibility for her stage character.
Together with daughter and sidekick Benji (played by Saoirse Ronan of Atonement fame), the mother and daughter team tries hard to make a living from their acts, but realize that they're by no means close to Houdini's widespread fame and fortune.However, Houdini himself throws a gauntlet to all psychics far and wide, that whosoever can accurately reveal what his late mother had last said to him, will inherit US$10,000.
Naturally, Mary and Benji find themselves up against the best in the business, but when your back is against the wall, there's nothing much to lose it seems.As mentioned earlier, this movie's more of a character study of the master magician, and explores things like his guilt because of dedication to his craft and performance, as well as his questionable motives in being attracted to the fictional Mary McGarvie.
Gillian Armstrong makes fine movies: she is a director who knows how to tell stories and enhance what appears on the surface to be reality with a healthy dose of fantasy.
DEATH DEFYING ACTS uses the character of Harry Houdini as the stimulus of to tell a story about the folk of Edinburgh, Scotland at a time when stage shows were embraced much the way America was using vaudeville - an escape from the rather dreary state of living to a world of entertainment and love of magic.
Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) survive in Edinburgh by picking pockets not merely for cash but for information to use in their act in the little theaters.
Mary does exotic dances then uses her 'gifts' to see into the 'other world' of people in the audience ( Benji does the investigative work and is the prompter for the séance like acts Mary performs).
Their idol is Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and when they learn Houdini is coming to Edinburgh to 'perform', they discover Houdini is promising $10,000 to anyone who can prove they have the ability to look into the future (or past).
How Mary and Benji work their way into Houdini's belief system and love life with their con game forms the meat of the sparing.
The atmosphere of the film is well captured by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos who understands who to balance the mire of the streets of 1926 Edinburgh with the gorgeous fantasies used during Houdini's escape acts.
Pearce, Zeta-Jones, Spall and Ronan turn in excellent performances.
This film is about a woman who works as a con artist trying to deceive Harry Houdini into believing that she has psychic powers."Death Defying Acts" sounds like an action movie, but the poster looks more like a romantic film.
It is a slowly unfolding drama about how Mary attempts to con Harry, and how harry falls for her.As Houdini is the greatest escape artist of all times, a film about him should have been exciting, thrilling and even death defying.
There is little chemistry between Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Catherine Zeta Jones plays a foxy, yet poor, mother, scamming away through life pretending to be a psychic.
When Guy Pearce's Houdini comes into town to prove or disprove the existence of the paranormal, they come into contact.It is both a sad and a hopeful movie.
A little too "psychic" for me and too little about the true nature of Harry Houdini except his fascination for his dead mother.
First of all this is not a film about Houdini, there is no reason why this film should dramatically display the amazing acts and potentials of the artist himself; Secondly, i do not see why 'there is no reason for the creation of this movie' is justifiable, this film is just a testimony on how characters carry on with their lives and that itself is enough to make a film meaningful...in fact films like 'Atonement' (where the girl is also in) deserves this statement better where everything is just so FAKE.
Third, i haven't watch the illusionist but i have to say this is richer in detail, and thus better than the Prestige--a film which displays too much magic 'action' but no depth to the characters or the plot at all, like an eggshell without the yoke inside...Lastly, this is a decent film where everything is well-made, well presented, well acting performances (exception of Catherine's dramatically 'fake' acting at times), and a good score.
You know, last year there have been severals magicians movies just like "The Prestige", Neil Burger's "The Illusionist, "Next".
But i noticed myself that "Death Defying Acts" is not just a simple "magic" movie.
Gillian Armstrong gives a touch of real magic directing this impressing, fascinating and thrilling movie, being helped by Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones, that are simply amazing and are "victims" of an unspeakable chemistry that in my opinion should be awarded with an Oscar.
It tells the fictional story of a poor but beautiful psychic-wannabe and Houdini through her daughter's point of view.
One must be warned that this film is fictional and thus, Pearce's Houdini does not bear much resemblance to the real one.
On the plus side, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan and Catherine Zeta-Jones perform well.
One ought not to watch 'Death Defying Acts' as a true account but rather try to enjoy it as a work of fiction..
It might be the weakest of the latest "Magicians" movies (see Prestige and the Illusionist, the latter being overseen at the Box office), but it still has one strong central performance by Guy Pearce.
Houdini was a very tough ex-circus performer..a guy who started in the scummiest dumps and worked his way up..and the Edinburgh music hall scene was an absurdity.
but harry Houdini is not, for sure, the man we see in the movie.
In here, he seems like an arrogant man who instantly falls in love with some girl.Aside from that, Zeta-Jones is once-again great and she kept me following during the movie ...
Death Defying Acts is directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Tony Grisoni and Brian Ward.
It stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall and Saoirse Ronan.
Music is by Cezary Skubiszewski and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos.Not a biopic of Harry Houdini, but an episode in his life, Death Defying Acts (a bum steer of a title) is lukewarm across the board.
Story charts the years after the death of Houdini's mother, where he travels to 1920s Edinburgh and falls in with Psychic Tricksters Mary (Jones) and Benji McGarvie (Ronan), a mother and daughter team who spy an opportunity to prise a cash reward offered by the great escapologist.What is intended to be a searching examination of Houdini, his mental fragility, hang-ups, strengths and etc, just plays out as a romantic period piece lacking vim and vigour.
Pearce works hard as Houdini but never gets to grasp the tormented angle of the man, while Jones is miscast and not even her pretty face can light up a dull performance.
I'm keeping my review simple, so here are some pros and cons:Pros Good visuals Guy Pearce is likable and chemistry with CZJ seems to work OK, though is somewhat shallow in some regards Character development is good Unpredictable plot Some light-heated, amusing momentsCons Plot meanders, and also takes a while to get to certain key moments - probably done in order to develop characters more but a little too slow for my liking Some strange imagery confuses the viewerIn summary, I probably would only go to see this at the movies for the great visuals of old towns and so forth (certainly not the story, plot, effects, etc).
It sounds like a great idea for a film: a Scottish con-woman, with the manners and mannerisms of a Morningnside lady but a heart of cold steel inside, attempts to con the great Harry Houdini.
Unfortunately, Guy Pierce manages to make one of the most intriguing figures of his team seem boring with his shallow performance, Timothy Spall (playing Houdini's manager) seems surprisingly ill-at-ease in a role you might have thought he was made for (and struggles throughout with his accent), while role of the con-woman's daughter is written as wholesome where a little malevolence might have spiced up the plot.
Love story between a down-and-out cabaret psychic and the great Houdini in town for his world tour.
It tells the fictional story of Mary, a single mother (Catherine Zeta Jones) who struggles to make a living as a psychic in a cabaret using her good looks, artful deceit and pick-pocketing skills more than actual psychic powers to entertain the working class crowds.
Mary and Benji make it a point to meet the great Houdini (played by Guy Pearce, so good in Memento) and gain financially from the encounter.
Magician/illusionist stories are notoriously difficult to make interesting and Death Defying Acts is no exception..
a fictional story about Harry Houdini.
There is a film during which the Catholic church pressures her to say it didn't happen.While performing in England and extending his challenge in the 1920s, Houdini (Guy Pearce) meets a fake psychic Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan).
Guy Pearce has to play Houdini as a person instead of just as a performer, and he does a good job.
He plays the role as a tough, plain-speaking, charismatic man, and a loving man at heart.Catherine Zeta-Jones is stunning, whether on stage as an exotic psychic, in the clothes of someone with no money, or in expensive outfits.
Despite the renewed interest in movies about magicians thanks to the success of the recent "The Prestige" and "The Illusionist", as well as the presence of two famous stars and a child actress who was Oscar-nominated for another film she made the same year, "Death Defying Acts" had only a limited theatrical release in a few countries and drew little attention.
Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones give OK but rather unremarkable performances; the real standout in the cast is the young Saoirse Ronan, who is obviously destined for a long successful career.
Well, THIS would have been indeed a dramatic ending of our movie here: once Benji starts to have REAL manifestations, Houdini could have tried to rig the experiment as to make it look false - thus, compromising all the human relationship he had built so far with the two Scots...
The great Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) has been debunking spiritualists claiming to have supernatural powers.
Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) are con artists and performers.
The mother daughter team manages to get into his world and discovers a locked trunk that could be the key to the two words.The idea holds some potential of a fictionalized Houdini.
If all you know about Harry Houdini is the jokes you usually hear in movies or amongst your friends and relatives, then this movie might at the very least satisfy your curiosity about the greatest illusionist ever.
This movie, if nothing else, shows us a little of what the Great Houdini was like.
Also the great love and affection he felt for his departed mother.So, if you're curious about who or what Houdini was like, this might just satisfy you curiosity..
Zeta-Jones is fine, but never for a single second did I believe she was going to screw over Houdini.
There was never a real sense of wonderment at Houdini's tricks, and the film tried to hard to pull away his showbiz facade.
Plunged well into the years of middle age with perhaps his most prolific days behind him, Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) veers towards the impossible presence of his removed origin.
That is the picture painted of this illusionist in Gillian Armstrong's "Death Defying Acts." Most people are aware that Mr. Houdini was a literal thinker and attacked the world realistically.
Afterall Houdini's (show) life was based on Death Defying Acts.
But this movie turns out to be a love story with an element of the very spiritualism he was trying to debunk.
It's what men and women do and sometimes if you're really lucky in between the sweaty sheets you'll find a little bit of true human love." "Did you ever find it?"(If you watch the movie you'll get the answer)The moral of the story.
While I enjoyed the acting abilities of Catherine Zeta Jones, Guy Pierce and especially the young Saoirse Ronan, the script was such an affront to the true Houdini that I almost gagged.
Moreover, at the end of the film, there is a title card that describes the séances that have tried to contact Harry after his death, all with no success.
One brave soul did hazard to ask why fictionalise to such an extent and Gillian Armstrong replied that her film was more about the eternal truth of love than the great illusionist himself.
Compared to the 1953 film Houdini starring Tony Curtis, Death Defying Acts showed very little evidence of progress in over 50 years of commercial film making and certainly wasn't worthy of either it's leading man Guy Pearce or director Gillian Armstrong..
"Mary McGarvie" (Katherine Zeta-Jones) is a young woman living in Edinburgh, Scotland during the 1920's who makes a living as a psychic along with her young daughter "Benjie" (Saoirse Ronan).
Then one day the great "Harry Houdini" (Guy Pearce) comes to town and with him is his challenge of $10,000 to any psychic who can tell him what his mother's last words were to him.
Likewise, both Guy Pearce and Saoirse Ronan performed quite adequately as well.
As a movie in general it's just about OK.I didn't have the same reading of whether we are supposed to be believe in the spirit world after watching this film.
You're not here ?" etc is very easy.The movie did make think about why Houdini was so anti-spiritualism ?
Flatly directed by Gillian Armstrong, "Death Defying Acts" stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a small time huckster who attempts to con Hungarian-American escapologist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce).
Her con relies on convincing Houdini that she has supernatural powers, a factor which irks many Houdini fans; the great escapologist was renowned for his hostility toward those claiming to be in possession of psychic powers."Death Defying Acts" was part of a wave of films which centred on conjurers ("The Prestige", "The Illusionist", "Magicians").
It's one of the weakest of these films, though Catherine Zeta-Jones and a young Saoirse Ronan act their little hearts out.6/10 - Worth one viewing..
Guy did a rather good job, I think he looks and acts nailed Houdini just right.