“The Prestige” is about the world of magic, and very early in the film we are informed of certain rules of the trade. One is that the end of a great trick, the “prestige,” must top everything that has come before.
Hmm. The main problem with this movie, which is generally an engrossing and atmospheric brain-teaser, is that the “prestige” feels like a cheat. Having said that, I can’t spoil the ending, except to say that it doesn’t quite live up to the long buildup.
This film is the new one from director Christopher Nolan, whose “Memento” struck gold with puzzle fans, and whose “Batman Begins” breathed gutsy life into the comic-book picture. Here Nolan lands in turn-of-the-century London, where two magicians carry on a bizarre rivalry.
The two men are assistants for the same magician. It appears that Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) causes the onstage death of the wife of Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). In the years that follow, both magicians achieve success – but they’re consumed with harming each other.
Borden comes up with a mystifying trick called “The Transported Man,” which is something like the matter-moving device from “The Fly.” Angier wants to top it, but he can’t figure out how it’s done.
This leads Angier to Colorado to solicit a device, possibly supernatural, from the great inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, fascinating casting). Because the movie is told in a jumbled, nonchronological order, we’re guessing about how this trip fits in with the main rivalry story.
There’s also Angier’s mistress and assistant (Scarlett Johansson), and the ongoing advice of a magic expert, played by Michael Caine. Best of all, there’s lots of dark, moody atmosphere, plus the tantalizing possibility that something might be afoot that goes beyond the logic of a magic trick.
I wish Nolan had brought off this idea all the way through the final 10 minutes, but it’s still a pretty cool movie. Jackman is better here than in his other non-Wolverine roles, and Bale (Nolan’s Batman) brings an untrustworthy air of menace.
“The Prestige” might sound and look like another period movie about magic, “The Illusionist,” released earlier this year. But it’s a smarter, classier film, and far less conventional. The letdown of the ending proves how difficult it is to escape from manacles in a locked trunk, and not have the audience feel they’ve been snookered.
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