The Prestige (12A.)
Directed by Christopher Nolan.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johanssen, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, 130 mins
At the start Michael Caine’s character Cutter, an ingénue who creates magic tricks and illusions, explains that every one is broken up into three acts. These are The Pledge, The Turn and finally The Prestige, the Ta Da moment when the final twist is revealed.
The Pledge. Towards the end of the Victorian era a single tragic event starts a bitter feud between two stage magicians: the showman Angier (Jackman) and the less flashy but more substantial Bowden (Bale.) It’s a rivalry that will end with Angier’s death, the event that opens the movie. From there the script, adapted from Christopher Priest’s novel by the director Christopher Nolan (Insomnia, Batman Begins) and his brother Jonathan goes back over their lives through a complicated double flashback structure. It’s similar to the trick the pair pulled off in Memento though a little less challenging this time - at least none of these narrative strands are running backwards.
The Turns. A great cast has been assembled but a great cast is useless unless you have something worthwhile for them to do, as All The King’s Men recently demonstrated. It's a great cast to splash over posters but Nolan hasn't cast simply for The Prestige. Every name actor is a perfect fit for the role. Jackman, Bale and Caine are all as good as they’ve ever been. Johansson pulls off a flawless English accent while Piper Perabo (star of Coyote Ugly) is able to make real impact in her few scenes. (The exception is Bowie, who is cast purely for Prestige value as real life eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla and is the film’s only slight miss step.)
The Prestige. The result is a handsomely mounted telling of a compelling story full of turns and sleights of hands. It keeps you guessing - even if you’ve spotted a twist, you’re never quite sure if it’s a double bluff.
For a whiz kid Hollywood director 36-year-old Brit Nolan is an oddly nondescript character. The standard description is that he looks like Harry Enfield and in interviews he has an almost Nice But Dim quality, like a thoroughly decent chap that would have his girlfriend stolen away by Terry-Thomas. You suspect there’s something of a young fogey to him - he’s all substance and no flash - yet he’s making some of the most exciting mainstream movies around, movies that are smart and challenging yet fantastically entertaining and this may be his best yet.
Directed by Christopher Nolan.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johanssen, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, 130 mins
At the start Michael Caine’s character Cutter, an ingénue who creates magic tricks and illusions, explains that every one is broken up into three acts. These are The Pledge, The Turn and finally The Prestige, the Ta Da moment when the final twist is revealed.
The Pledge. Towards the end of the Victorian era a single tragic event starts a bitter feud between two stage magicians: the showman Angier (Jackman) and the less flashy but more substantial Bowden (Bale.) It’s a rivalry that will end with Angier’s death, the event that opens the movie. From there the script, adapted from Christopher Priest’s novel by the director Christopher Nolan (Insomnia, Batman Begins) and his brother Jonathan goes back over their lives through a complicated double flashback structure. It’s similar to the trick the pair pulled off in Memento though a little less challenging this time - at least none of these narrative strands are running backwards.
The Turns. A great cast has been assembled but a great cast is useless unless you have something worthwhile for them to do, as All The King’s Men recently demonstrated. It's a great cast to splash over posters but Nolan hasn't cast simply for The Prestige. Every name actor is a perfect fit for the role. Jackman, Bale and Caine are all as good as they’ve ever been. Johansson pulls off a flawless English accent while Piper Perabo (star of Coyote Ugly) is able to make real impact in her few scenes. (The exception is Bowie, who is cast purely for Prestige value as real life eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla and is the film’s only slight miss step.)
The Prestige. The result is a handsomely mounted telling of a compelling story full of turns and sleights of hands. It keeps you guessing - even if you’ve spotted a twist, you’re never quite sure if it’s a double bluff.
For a whiz kid Hollywood director 36-year-old Brit Nolan is an oddly nondescript character. The standard description is that he looks like Harry Enfield and in interviews he has an almost Nice But Dim quality, like a thoroughly decent chap that would have his girlfriend stolen away by Terry-Thomas. You suspect there’s something of a young fogey to him - he’s all substance and no flash - yet he’s making some of the most exciting mainstream movies around, movies that are smart and challenging yet fantastically entertaining and this may be his best yet.
