The Prestige

Are you watching closely?

The Pledge:
Many magicians open their shows by letting two birds fly forth from their sleeves, out over the audience. This film is about two theatrical magicians. (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) They worked together, but eventually competed against each other, and end up working across the street from each other, each trying to learn the others secrets, and put the other down. A fairly simple story.

The Turn:
But like any magic trick, it is not that simple. In fact, the film is riddled with twists and turns that leave your head spinning, and most people I see walk away from it are not sure if they liked it or not. It has a dark, treacherous taste to it. You feel like you are walking backwards; the more the movie progresses, the more lies are unveiled. Soon you are not sure you know what is going on. True, it is riddled with all the anticipated magic tricks, but they are almost too complex; not unlike the movie. There are tricks involving giant apparatuses and complex machines, there are several emotional relationship issues at stake, being threatened by the magician's competition.
One of the strongest issues addressed is that of obsession. Christian Bale plays a cheating, aggressive, more unlikeable character, who accidentally murders Jackman's wife in a magic trick, but ducks out of it, and forgets "which knot he tied". Jackman loses his wife, his success, his name, and his friends. Bale loses his fingers and his family. But when given the choice, each reveals himself to be concerned more with his work than his life. Scarlett Johansson's character is helping Jackman get the diary of his rival, and he lets slip the line, "I don't care about my wife, I just care about the secret!" She stops in her tracks and stares at him, dumbfounded. He gathers his hat and leaves. (She becomes the "other woman" with Bale's character, later.) It builds to the point where one is willing to kill anyone, even himself, just to win. As Jackman says, "There's nothing like seeing the faces".

The Prestige:
You can't just make something disappear; that's not a trick. That's annoying. You have to bring it back. But you have to keep your audience guessing. When Michael Caine's character brings home what he claims to be "real magic", the show owner says, "you have to give the audience something to doubt it. You can't just show them magic." The film successfully delivers, but it's delivery is in a style that somehow rubs the wrong way. It doesn't feel right. It is a great film, brilliantly written. But be careful; it's not afraid to get its hands dirty. It tends to sneak up behind you.

Watch closely.

3 out of 5 stars.