The Prestige (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
"Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before" - Cutter (Michael Caine). He couldn't have been more accurate.
'The Prestige' (Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins, Insomnia) is a sci-fi thriller set in London, 1897. Cutter (Caine) is an illusionist who oversees two pal magicians. These magicians, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) & Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) find themselves to be fierce rivals after a magic trick goes mortally wrong & destroys them on a personal level. Rupert is out for revenge, plotting to destroy Alfred's career & life, as he knows it. Borden creates 'the best magic trick ever seen', & Rupert is now obsessed with both figuring out the trick & one-upping him. The journey towards discovering this 'magic trick' proves deadly on many levels. Obsession, deceit, & jealousy take over their souls. It's not a matter of magic anymore, they're out for blood. Speaking of magic, this film has cast an unusual spell over me. This movie is so airtight, so exhilarating, so original, so well done, that I can practically excuse being disappointed by an aspect of the reveal AND the manner in which the reveal is accomplished. That is how good 'The Prestige' is.
Alfred's 'best trick ever created' is the transport-man-from-one-side-of-the-stage-to-the-other trick. Whether it's a diversion or a riddle, Alfred tips-off Rupert that he should travel to Colorado to meet an experimental scientist, Nikola Tesla (an enigmatic David Bowie), & seek the answer to the magic trick, himself. Tesla is creating a phenomenal electrical device that would successfully transport man or beast from one spot to another. Is it perfected? Will Tesla allow Rupert to use the machine, even though the results may be disastrous? Will Rupert ever discover the mystery behind the 'transported man' trick & shove it in Alfred's face?
With 'The Prestige', I was treated to a smart storyline & masterful trickery that gave me goose bumps on several occasions. A tagline of the film is: Look closer. And boy, did I ever. Who was that? Why did he say that? Did that really work? Look out around the corner! Did I just see what I thought I saw!? That is insane! All of these thoughts raced through my head during this film. Finally, a movie had my brain working overtime! Tensions ran high. Twists & turns kept my mind reeling. However, the non-stop twists & turns run their course and they wind up being both a blessing and a bit of a curse by the movie's end.
Additional characters along for this crazy ride include Alfred's tortured wife, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), & a magician's assistant/spy/mistress named Olivia (Scarlett Johansson). How is Sarah intertwined in her husband's mess of an Act? Or is she? What lengths will Olivia go to find out the true secret of the 'transported man'? What are her true intentions? In fact, what are Cutter's intentions? Where do his loyalties lie? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions left me a tad puzzled and a bit underwhelmed in the end. Which brings me to my one main complaint ...
SPOILER ALERT: Because the film is based on a book, I can accept a great deal of what I'm about to write; that doesn't mean I have to love it. The fact that the last 10 seconds reveals that a 'duplicating machine' IS the secret to the 'transported man' trick makes the heart of this film feel hollow. The entire movie explains and shows that every trick can be explained in the natural world. Then, we're supposed to change that great line of thinking and just accept the supernatural in these last 10 seconds? I have to whip out the 'ole suspension of disbelief now? This magical machine really DOES do the transporting, after all? This 'reveal' doesn't match up with Rupert's character drive, at all. Right when I was about to declare this film brilliant (because I was riveted and led to believe that Rupert had a 'realistic' approach to executing the main trick), an idiotic duplicating machine steals the show. There's no real prestige in 'The Prestige'. 99.9% of the movie was genius when it focused on jealousy, obsession, rage, & murder. Couldn't the ending have been left open for some interpretation? I don't know if I am more disappointed in the actual sci-fi nature, itself ... or the fact that because I didn't read the book/reviews/etc., any thought-provoking theories that were piling up in my head were cast aside all because of a mystical machine that defies the early purpose of the film. This rant is over, SPOILER COMPLETE.
That said, the major twist in the end is somewhat excusable because even if we aren't in favor of the 'reveal' itself, we're so emotionally invested in the story, its execution, & the characters themselves. Jackman & Bale are simply riveting. Both men are protagonist & antagonist, and that is always a tough thing to achieve. The cast, direction, cinematography, period sets, costumes, make-up, music, editing, moodiness & complexity of the plot is absolutely fantastic. It ensnarls you ... like a magic great trick. But does it all wind up being too complex for its' own good? It's a polarizing type of movie; not for everybody. It's a film that reminds me, in parts, of Mulholland Drive with reference to confusion & mystery. My theater was abuzz as I left, all discussing what they just witnessed and spewing out all of their theories; some correct, most wrong. For all of its genius & horror, perhaps something more than a tagline of look closer is required here. Some people love a cerebral film such as this, but some people just want to be spoon-fed their answers. If you are of the latter, don't see 'The Prestige', you might be disappointed. I appreciate all that went into it; never knowing what was coming next. I LOVED nearly every second of it. I just wish the prestige, itself, were more satisfying.
'The Prestige' (Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins, Insomnia) is a sci-fi thriller set in London, 1897. Cutter (Caine) is an illusionist who oversees two pal magicians. These magicians, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) & Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) find themselves to be fierce rivals after a magic trick goes mortally wrong & destroys them on a personal level. Rupert is out for revenge, plotting to destroy Alfred's career & life, as he knows it. Borden creates 'the best magic trick ever seen', & Rupert is now obsessed with both figuring out the trick & one-upping him. The journey towards discovering this 'magic trick' proves deadly on many levels. Obsession, deceit, & jealousy take over their souls. It's not a matter of magic anymore, they're out for blood. Speaking of magic, this film has cast an unusual spell over me. This movie is so airtight, so exhilarating, so original, so well done, that I can practically excuse being disappointed by an aspect of the reveal AND the manner in which the reveal is accomplished. That is how good 'The Prestige' is.
Alfred's 'best trick ever created' is the transport-man-from-one-side-of-the-stage-to-the-other trick. Whether it's a diversion or a riddle, Alfred tips-off Rupert that he should travel to Colorado to meet an experimental scientist, Nikola Tesla (an enigmatic David Bowie), & seek the answer to the magic trick, himself. Tesla is creating a phenomenal electrical device that would successfully transport man or beast from one spot to another. Is it perfected? Will Tesla allow Rupert to use the machine, even though the results may be disastrous? Will Rupert ever discover the mystery behind the 'transported man' trick & shove it in Alfred's face?
With 'The Prestige', I was treated to a smart storyline & masterful trickery that gave me goose bumps on several occasions. A tagline of the film is: Look closer. And boy, did I ever. Who was that? Why did he say that? Did that really work? Look out around the corner! Did I just see what I thought I saw!? That is insane! All of these thoughts raced through my head during this film. Finally, a movie had my brain working overtime! Tensions ran high. Twists & turns kept my mind reeling. However, the non-stop twists & turns run their course and they wind up being both a blessing and a bit of a curse by the movie's end.
Additional characters along for this crazy ride include Alfred's tortured wife, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), & a magician's assistant/spy/mistress named Olivia (Scarlett Johansson). How is Sarah intertwined in her husband's mess of an Act? Or is she? What lengths will Olivia go to find out the true secret of the 'transported man'? What are her true intentions? In fact, what are Cutter's intentions? Where do his loyalties lie? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions left me a tad puzzled and a bit underwhelmed in the end. Which brings me to my one main complaint ...
SPOILER ALERT: Because the film is based on a book, I can accept a great deal of what I'm about to write; that doesn't mean I have to love it. The fact that the last 10 seconds reveals that a 'duplicating machine' IS the secret to the 'transported man' trick makes the heart of this film feel hollow. The entire movie explains and shows that every trick can be explained in the natural world. Then, we're supposed to change that great line of thinking and just accept the supernatural in these last 10 seconds? I have to whip out the 'ole suspension of disbelief now? This magical machine really DOES do the transporting, after all? This 'reveal' doesn't match up with Rupert's character drive, at all. Right when I was about to declare this film brilliant (because I was riveted and led to believe that Rupert had a 'realistic' approach to executing the main trick), an idiotic duplicating machine steals the show. There's no real prestige in 'The Prestige'. 99.9% of the movie was genius when it focused on jealousy, obsession, rage, & murder. Couldn't the ending have been left open for some interpretation? I don't know if I am more disappointed in the actual sci-fi nature, itself ... or the fact that because I didn't read the book/reviews/etc., any thought-provoking theories that were piling up in my head were cast aside all because of a mystical machine that defies the early purpose of the film. This rant is over, SPOILER COMPLETE.
That said, the major twist in the end is somewhat excusable because even if we aren't in favor of the 'reveal' itself, we're so emotionally invested in the story, its execution, & the characters themselves. Jackman & Bale are simply riveting. Both men are protagonist & antagonist, and that is always a tough thing to achieve. The cast, direction, cinematography, period sets, costumes, make-up, music, editing, moodiness & complexity of the plot is absolutely fantastic. It ensnarls you ... like a magic great trick. But does it all wind up being too complex for its' own good? It's a polarizing type of movie; not for everybody. It's a film that reminds me, in parts, of Mulholland Drive with reference to confusion & mystery. My theater was abuzz as I left, all discussing what they just witnessed and spewing out all of their theories; some correct, most wrong. For all of its genius & horror, perhaps something more than a tagline of look closer is required here. Some people love a cerebral film such as this, but some people just want to be spoon-fed their answers. If you are of the latter, don't see 'The Prestige', you might be disappointed. I appreciate all that went into it; never knowing what was coming next. I LOVED nearly every second of it. I just wish the prestige, itself, were more satisfying.