Michelle and I caught a Sunday matinee of “The Prestige”, starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as competing magicians at the turn of the century. It was a couple of hours well spent. Sadly, it’s the kind of movie you can really enjoy only once, maybe twice. Because, like “The Sixth Sense” and others, it has a Big Secret that, once revealed, puts all plot mysteries in line and leaves you questioning your own IQ because you didn’t figure it out before the end. Oh well. Like Jackman’s character pointed out near the end of the film, the audience likes being fooled.
And the plot runs like a well-oiled machine, revealing just enough at a time to keep you interested, but not enough that you can see what’s coming. That’s not to say the plot is perfect. There are a few lingering questions. For instance, why did Bale’s character wait so long to start performing the Transported Man trick, since he’d obviously had the means to do so, well, pretty much since he was born? Telling you any more would reveal too much, though, so I’ll leave that one lie. I guess his was much like the life of the old Asian magician whose tricks they the young magicians were so enamored with. Bale’s characters’ real performance was when he wasn’t on stage.
By far my favorite part of the movie was David Bowie’s portrayal of Nikola Tesla, arch rival of Thomas Edison back when Thomas Edison had rivals. Bowie’s performance is limited in the movie, but his character’s actions are of great importance. He’s played it straight before, and is a fantastic character actor. (See him as Pontius Pilot in “The Last Temptation of Christ.”) Oh, and I loved seeing Andy Serkis as Tesla’s assistant.
Having known a little bit about the rivalry between Edison’s direct current and Tesla’s alternating current, it was very interesting to catch glimpses of the real wizards who were working and creating at the time. Although the idea that Tesla invented a machine that could… well, I can’t tell you exactly what it did, but rest assured the idea is absurd, and pure science fiction. But I guess that’s always the danger of throwing historical characters into the mix of a work of fiction. Much like prestidigitation, good storytelling depends greatly on obscuring the truth.
Oh, and there is a clue to figuring out the Big Secret hidden somewhere in the above paragraphs. But don’t strain yourself trying to find it. You’ll probably enjoy the movie more if you let yourself be fooled.
i’m glad you enjoyed it, too.
i also caught it yesterday, and was impressed as always. i understand about Bale’s character, though. my guess is he didn’t want to pull out all the cards at once. he waiting till the time was “right.”
i’d like to see The Illusionist next, so i can see another hopefully good magician movie.