POISON SCOOTER

The Prestige

At this point you probably will have to wait for the DVD if you haven't already seen The Prestige, but lucky for me I live in a town with a fully funtioning 99 cent theater and used my time off from work wisely by taking in a showing this fine afternoon in the new year.

I'm convinced the Chris Nolan is a master filmmaker based on only seeing 5 of his 6 films. Memento blew me away when it first came out, Guy Pearce was riveting and the backwards story line was not only an impressive script but the editing of that film was very carefully crafted. A feat once again acheived in the time jumping Prestige starring Christian Bale (aka the best Batman ever thanks to Nolan) and Hugh Jackman as rival magicians. Nolan and his brother have executed the best story about magic and sabotage I've ever seen, and thanks to the winning cast of this film, I'm willing to say it's perhaps one of the best films I've seen in the past year.

The Illusionist was a very good film about a magician, and had a very "pay attention" ending, but the film was more of a love story between Ed Norton's master and his assitant turned lover Beil. And not that The Prestige doesn't focus some energy on the women in the magician's lives, but the central theme is that of obsession and rivalry that goes to extremes you could not imagine. Both leads, Bale and Jackman, are tortured artists more intent on perfecting the greatest trick than anyting else. How they go about undermining each other is worth the price of admission and the finale is just something to behold. What makes the film so special is that you will see it coming, but in reality you won't. Just like an incredible magic trick.

The supporting cast turns in some fine work, strenghtening an already tight film from top to bottom. Stand outs include David Bowie channelling Pierce Brosnan with a strange Austrian (?) accent and the resurging Michael Caine. But the real show here is the performances of Bale and Jackman. Are you watcing closely?

posted by Scooter @ 12:51 PM