#8220Abracadabra, hocus-pocus. Leave me alone, this trick is bogus, has always been my motto.
Since I missed the Houdini phenomenon, I was introduced to the realm of magic by watching the David Copperfield specials on television.
Sure, his tricks were mystifying and seemingly inexplicable, but it was only magic. The lovely assistants were certain to be sawed in half and made whole again. But it was magic.
Poof! Doves and Bengal tigers disappeared and reappeared in majesty. Magic not real, not true, not really happening.
Period.
Director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento) obviously thinks more of the world of wizardry than I do. He informs us that there is method to the magic.
First, there is the pledge. This is the dramatic presentation of the approaching trick that hooks the audience.
Second, the turn.
This is the trick in action. Lastly, there is the prestige. This is the success of the trick.
The roaring applause. The oohs and aahs and the how d-he-do-that? Then there is the darker side of magic: the competition, the obsession, and the danger.
#8220The Prestige opens with a magician s act in progress on stage. We meet Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), and #8220planted audience members/apprenticing magicians chosen to tie the assistant s (Piper Perabo) arms and legs for a water tank submersion trick.
Something goes wrong, and the assistant drowns.
She was Angier s beloved wife. Angier asks Borden at the funeral, #8220What kind of knot did you tie?
Angier and Borden spend the rest of their lives competing and searching for magic, money, audiences and sanity.
Taking place in Victorian London, Nolan chooses a Dickensian colorwash for the film that works like magic itself. It lends to the mystique of the era, the darkness of the characters and the drama of this film s content. It leaves the corners and alleyways shadowed perfect for concealing the twists and turns that #8220The Prestige produces with a wave of its movie-magic wand.
The acting was also superb. Jackman and Bale were both outstanding, as was Michael Caine as Cutter, the contrapment designer who served as a manager and confidant of the feuding magicians. Scarlett Johannson, as the alluring assistant, was a solid choice by the casting crew, but my favorite character was David Bowie.
He was absolutely flawless as the stoic scientist Nikola Tesla. Bowie was so convincing in his character that it took me over half of the film to recognize him.
A word of warning for PETA supporters: There is animal cruelty in the film.
Birds are killed during magic acts (so that s how the bird disappears!) and a cat is electrocuted (but unharmed).
#8220The Prestige was a surprising treat (especially for someone like myself who has no interest in magic).
It has a great story, great acting, and keeps audiences guessing from beginning to end. And for those who love to see the sleight of hand, the film reveals many shushed secrets of the trade.
Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, and running at 2 hours and 8 minutes, #8220The Prestige gets 4 bags of popcorn.
Kammeron Polverari writes movie review for The Robesonian.
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