10 Massively Underrated 2000s Movie Performances

The Prestige was one of those movies that really threw every big name into the mix it could. Among the cast of this 2006 thriller are Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Christian Bale, David Bowie and (you guessed it) Hugh Jackman.

The plot revolves around Bale and Jackman’s characters, two magicians performing in London in the 1890s. Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) have loathed –and been desperate to outdo—each other since a trick engineered by the latter went horribly wrong: Angier’s wife failed to escape the water tank in which she was secured and drowned. They embark on a rivalry that sees the men try to sabotage each other.

In pursuit of the secret behind Borden’s newest illusion, The Transported Man, Angier meets with Nikola Tesla, who builds a curious machine that enables the user to duplicate themselves. Angier uses this for his own act, later learning that there are multiple Bordens too: identical twins were masquerading as one man!

The Prestige is an astonishing thrill ride with a shocking finale, one of Jackman’s (and Bale’s, for that matter) most intriguing roles. Sadly, it tends to fade into the background when compared to the renown of some of his other roles.