The Prestige (8 of 10)
Review by James Jones
Since he burst on the scene with 2000’s best film, the mind-bending Memento, Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of Hollywood’s premier directors. Most recently, Nolan helmed last year’s franchise re-launch, Batman Begins, and turned in one of the best superhero films ever made. He has an uncanny knack for breathing fresh air into the somewhat stale suspense genre, while remembering to stay focused on his characters and not simply his plot twists (a lesson that would serve the overwrought M. Night Shyamalan well). And Nolan’s skill set is put to good use in his latest, The Prestige.
Written by Nolan and his brother, Jonathan, The Prestige is a riveting tale of rival magicians, who become consumed with revenge. Set in turn of the century London, the film is an intelligent, thought-provoking study in obsession.
Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are two magician’s understudies, learning the trade from Cutter (Michael Caine). When Borden accidentally kills Angiers’ lover during in an elaborate trick during a show, the stage is set for the two men’s lifelong rivalry. Over the years, as they each grow more adept at the art of illusion, the two attempt to sabotage each other’s lives and careers in a bitter contest of one-upmanship, which seems to consume the totality of their existence.
The performances in The Prestige are uniformly excellent. Bale simmers as the brash and angry Borden, a man whose family life is eroding due to his all-consuming drive to be a great magician. This is Bale’s best work since American Psycho.
Bale’s co-star, Jackman (X-Men 3), is equally as engaging as a man driven by revenge. Initially, the more wholesome of the two, the lengths to which Jackman’s Angier is eventually driven are astonishing. And Jackman has a nice little comedic turn in the film which garnered multiple big laughs from the audience.
One final note, I’m not the sort of viewer who usually figures out a film’s shocking revelations ahead of time, but The Prestige’s secrets are surprisingly easy to predict. So much so, that I wondered if the movie telegraphed them on purpose. I was discussing this with some friends, however, and we all agreed that easily surmising the twistd didn’t affect our opinion of the film negatively at all. Each of us still thought it was excellent.
The Prestige is brooding and lush and it keeps your mind working for the entirety of its running time. It’s on the short list of the most entertaining films of 2006.