The Illusionist

Edward Norton plays a mysterious magician known as Eisenheim at the turn of the last century Vienna, who regularly performs magic tricks on stage. When the powerful Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) orders his fiancee Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel), in a obvious show of his power, to assist the magician a spark between Norton and Biel is rekindled as we find out they were "young lovers". What follows is a dangerous affair, and deadly consequences where we are constantly tested to question whether what we see is truth or merely a conjuror's trick. I should point out that I'm fascinated by illusion and magic. Back in 2005, my girlfriend and I were on the second row for a live show from UK showman Derren Brown in which such feats as asking someone from the audience to stand on his head whilst lying on sharp glass and sticking a nail deep into his own nose with a hammer was performed. Who cares if it's not real, I love the illusion that it might be real. It takes a very good movie to give you the same kind of emotions and The Prestige managed it magnificantly, but could The Illusionist do the same? On occasion it does, but not nearly often enough. Some tricks are clearly performed by Edward Norton but by the same token others clearly aren't. The frequent use of CGI for many of the illusions took you completely out of the believeability of the picture, and the magic of the film. The bland script and predictable turning points at various points leads to an ending that anyone with half a brain can see a million miles away. The performances are good. I'm utterly convinced that Edward Norton is versatile enough to play any role in movie history and he does a great job here. Paul Giamatti, again cast out of type, is superb as the Chief Inspector Uhl, who walks the tight line between police authority and that of the royal family. Jessica Biel is good with what she is given, but I would have liked to have seen her tested more and her role in the film given more depth, than merely being used as a plot device. Rufus Sewell plays.... Rufus Sewell. I swear to God, I have seen him play the same character in 145 movies now, but it works so well in this context because you know he is this evil "son of a bitch" before he has even done anything evil. My favourite scene in the movie comes when a battle of power is fought between Eisenheim's magic and the Prince's stature and Sewell's look of rage sold me as to why this actor keeps getting cast in these villainous roles. The Illusionist is the first film I have seen from Neil Burger, and with a better script, it could have been something really special. As it is, the movie is very pretty to look at and has some mildly interesting set pieces but never does it draw you in to ever thinking the movie is anything more than mindless fun.

rating: 3

A very well acted and directed film, but one that lacks a good screenplay. There is a killer story in their somewhere, but unfortunately it wasn't quite presented to us. Not bad though, but in every way The Prestige is superior.