The Prestige
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring:
Hugh Jackman - Robert "The Great Danton" Angier
Christian Bale - Alfred "The Professor" Borden
Michael Caine - Cutter
Scarlett Johansson - Olivia Wenscombe
David Bowie - Nikolas Tesla
Andy Serkis - Alley
I am of two minds when it comes to this film. The moviegoer in me loves the skillful direction and dynamic performances, yet chafes at the lack of some key story elements which would have helped the overall narrative. But the film student in me loves the subtext of duality which runs through the characters, their illusions (“Tricks are what a whore does for money…or candy.”), and the plot of the film.
The plot jumps around because it’s the best way to simulate the magician’s requisite use of artful distraction. As the story progresses, we try to understand the relationship between Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden. Their friendship dissolves when Borden accidentally ends up killing Angier’s wife during a show. Unfortunately, this break-up between friends occurs too early in the film and all the tragedy and fighting that follows loses some edge because there was never really any love lost between Angier and Borden. The film suffers throughout because the cruelties delivered by each upon the other seem less tragic and more like Mean Bastard Theatre.
As this game of Spy vs. Spy escalates, the story introduces more disparate elements but director Christopher Nolan never loses control. Borden’s life involves his loving but increasingly frustrated wife as well as his mysterious confidant and lawyer Mr. Fowler. Angier is trying to become a better magician with the help of Cutter, a creator of Illusions, and Olivia, a young assistant who ends up falling for both Angier and Borden. We know this last part because she tells us she loves them. It’d be nice if we actually had one scene helping us to understand why Olivia loves these self-centered ego-maniacs, but I guess when you look like Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, you don’t really need something as trivial as a reason.
Jackman and Bale are two of the best actors working today. To most audiences they may always be best known for Wolverine and Patrick Bateman, but they slip effortlessly into any role. Even playing characters as despicable and monomaniacal as these, Jackman and Bale still manage to color their performances and imbue these men with enough sympathy so that even if you don’t want them to saw you in half, you’ll have no problem watching them act for two hours. Throw in some excellent supporting work from Michael Caine, David Bowie, and Andy Serkis and only Scarlett Johansson remains as the only casting misstep. Johansson is too talented for a role that serves more as a plot device than a real character.
But more than wasting Johansson or not developing the friendship between Angier and Borden, audiences will most likely find fault with the film’s numerous twists. A film about magic should be surprising, but I’m sure you’ll be arguing with your friends about whether the twists were just cheating, just stupid, or just right. I find myself in the last category because all the twists and turns relate to thematic elements which run from beginning to end.
“Are you watching closely?” is the first line of the film and clearly addressed to the audience. To truly enjoy this film, you’ll have to remember that opening bit of rhetoric and not fall into the artful distraction of the strong performances and skillful direction.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
10.26.06
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