Written by Jonathan Nolan And Christopher Nolan
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Cutter: "Now you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled."
The timing of this movie's release couldn't have been more interesting. Imagine being the film that was sandwiched between releases of the first two movies in The Dark Knight trilogy.
After a grounded take on one of the most popular heroes of all time, I could appreciate a bit of sleight of hand with this film. A tale of two magicians who would take their competitive ambitions to extreme lengths.
The magicians in question were Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale). The former was a bit of an upperclass twit and the latter was more working class. The film saw Alfred on trial for the death of Robert and only former stage engineer John Cutter (Michael Caine) could help him.
The bulk of the movie explored the rivalry between Alfred and Robert in great detail. At one point, they were assistants to Milton the Magician (Ricky Jay). Robert had fallen in love with other assistant Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo) and Alfred inadvertently caused Julia's death.
Julia's death caused one hell of a rivalry between the Alfred and Robert and as both ventured out as solo magicians, both men also fought incredibly dirty in order to ruin one another. Whether it was stealing tricks, assistants like Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson), employing the help of Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) or framing each other for murder, there was no line that either man wouldn't cross to get even.
It's an incredibly dirty rivalry with Robert having no problem with raising Alfred's daughter just to punish him further. The final twist in regards to Alfred's fate was an impressive way to end this film.
- Robert was also known as Lord Caldlow and "The Great Danton". Alfred was known as "The Professor" and had a twin brother. The twin loved Olivia while Alfred loved Sarah (Rebecca Hall).
- The movie was based on Christopher Priest's story of the same name. Andy Serkis also appeared as Tesla's assistant.
- Standout music: Keith Nichols Drinkin' Down the Rose & Crown.
- Chronology: It started off in 1890 London.
The Prestige (2006) had plenty of impressive tricks and sleight of hand on display. It's an excellent showcase for both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman with Michael Caine providing great support for both men. I do think it could've utilised both Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson a little better though.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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