The Prestige tries too hard to trick audience, doesn't live up to hype
The Prestige, the latest film from Batman Begins collaborators Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale and Michael Caine, takes its name from the third and final part of a magician's act. The prestige, as Caine explains in the film, is the part of a magic trick "with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance and you see something shocking you've never seen before."
While there was no shortage of entertaining twists and turns in the film, I can think of several other s-words that more accurately describe them.
The Prestige, also starring a surprisingly skillful Hugh Jackman, tells the story of two apprentice magicians who become bitter rivals when a mistake by Bale's character, Alfred Borden, causes a magic trick to go awry, killing the wife of Jackman's character, Rupert Angier.
The storyline is revealed in a style common to the Nolan clan. Nolan's younger brother Jonathan wrote the film, based on Christopher Priest's novel, in the pair's first collaboration since the critically acclaimed Memento. Opening with the trial and subsequent sentence of Borden for Angier's murder, we see the friends' rivalry evolve through flashbacks, testimony and dictated journal entries.
The film does a good job of showcasing the acting chops of all involved, minus a horribly miscast Scarlett Johansson, but leaves you scratching your head, not because of the excellent storytelling abilities of the younger Nolan brother, but a complete lack of them. At the end of this nearly two-and-a-half-hour movie, I actually cared less about the characters than I did when I took my seat.
The problem is that viewers aren't given any reason to like the two main characters, or at the very least sympathize with them. Too quick to rush to the rivalry, the film does little to show you that these two magicians were actually friends at one point. So when you see the magicians staking out each other's performances, using spies to grab secrets and openly sabotaging each other's shows, it's like watching two adults throwing pointless temper tantrums.
Now, don't get me wrong, the film can be damned entertaining at times. Many of the tricks were clever and the underlying story of obsession was actually quite interesting.
However, after being impressed at how skilled the Nolan brothers are behind the camera in their previous projects, I was disappointed at all of the loopholes and convenient plot devices used for the final "gotcha" moment.
Maybe I'm being too harsh, but I just think a movie that makes no secret of trying to trick the audience shouldn't explain away the entire film in the final 10 minutes. It gives you no reason to come back and see the film again, or at least discuss the film later with friends. Just like the characters, there is no reason to care about the film.
The bottom line is that if you're looking to spend some time at the movies in the coming weeks you could do better than The Prestige, but certainly do a hell of lot worse. Just be sure, if you do decide to go see the film, to check your brain at the door. Unfortunately, you won't be needing it.
Grade: C+
Originally published on October 24, 2006
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