NOLAN'S MAGIC IS MORE THAN SLEIGHT OF HAND Review by Scott Weitz Rating: October 17, 2006 One of the most anticipated films of the fall movie season delivers cinematic magic to audiences in Christopher Nolan's THE PRESTIGE.  The story is a winding path through shadows and illusion, sleight-of-hand and self-deception as the battle between two rival magicians at the end of the 19th century becomes a perilous race of egos and pride in the name of professional glory. We seemingly join this journey at its end, only to watch and learn the meaning of true magic and what price must be obtained to achieve it. The result is a masterful performance by those in front of and behind the camera, enacting an epic tale of earthbound wizards whose reach for the ultimate mystery exceeds both their grasps and their mortal flaws. And just when you think you've figured out the trick...the illusion deepens before your eyes.

Like great stage magic, THE PRESTIGE is a work of craft not commerce, and as such it is a daring and delicate piece of art. Christopher Nolan and co-writer Jonathan Nolan have adapted Christopher Priest's dense novel into a bold, powerful film which, like even the simplest of magic tricks, could fail miserably were one false move made in its execution. Yet as the director of a complex psychological tapestry such as MEMENTO or the character-driven revival of a pop culture knight in BATMAN BEGINS, Christopher Nolan electrifies THE PRESTIGE with the dark mysteries of the human soul which propel these two magicians into chaotic conflict, never once bungling his three-act wonder.

Above all, this is a tale of obsession illustrated amid a world of theatrical fantasy, yet at its heart beats a dangerous and compelling reality which ultimately entraps those who lose track of the difference. In their quest for greatness and stardom in their art, one-time assistants Robert Angiers (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) harness their expertise and egos to their ambition in a race to outdo the other's success. Thus begins their rivalry which, like the illusions they perform, soon defy the restraints of rationality both for the audience and themselves.

As Angiers, Hugh Jackman stages a powerful performance of a man determined and perhaps damaged by his tunnel-vision pursuit to be the best magician ever. Jackman embodies genuinely painful angst under a veneer of period showmanship which pays tribute to the era when master illusionists were the pop culture stars of their time. His performance presents us with a man less divided between future and past, magic and science, but more torn between the violent extremes he embraces. This is likely Jackman's most serious and skilled performance to date, and perhaps some of his audience is not quite prepared to expect after his enjoyable-but-easy turns in the X-MEN series. But make the most of this acting opportunity Hugh Jackman does, and his career should reap the benefits of his dramatic investment here.

Just as there is an equal and opposite effect for every action, so strongly and seriously does Christian Bale counteract and compliment his rival as the lesser-accomplished but more talented magician, Alfred Borden. Clearly Bale and his director have developed a valuable screen rapport after teaming up to re-imagine and reinvigorate the tired cliche that BATMAN had become on the big screen. Yet despite the dazzling, flashy theatrics inherent in a story of stage magic, Borden provides a gritty counterpoint to Angiers' finesse, a tattered suit and soul opposing his rival's sophisticated finery. Bale exhibits a reserve in his consistent, quality performance that both reassures and unsettles as we watch Borden race with Angiers headlong toward their mutual destinies.

Though as much as these two men clash and contrast, their lives — narrowed evermore by obsession — are as thinly separated (and enjoined) as two sides of a coin, which either will gladly pull from behind the audience's ear. Therein lay the genius of this film and story: constructed as a magic act itself, the compulsion that relentlessly drives Angiers and Borden reveals its secret only to obscure a deeper mystery between them. The two magicians reveal to their audience and each other only that slice of seeming reality which enhances their ongoing illusion. So their dangerous act builds and grows more perilous with each new trick performed and exposed to our eyes.

In between these titans stands Michael Caine as Cutter, the ingeneur or inventor of the simple tricks and grand stage illusions Angiers performs. As Borden's career rises, Cutter is left to imagine and recreate the methods behind his most astonishing trick yet, The Transported Man. While Cutter pursues this secret as a rational mystery performed with artistry and mechanics, Angiers' obsession drives him to pursue the secret behind Borden himself, eventually stealing his journal in an attempt to one-up Borden at his own game. Amid this entangling web of deceit and compulsion, Caine's Cutter is a man of measured rationality who knows every trick in the book, but still delights in the art of performing them which perpetuates the magic. As with Christian Bale, Michael Caine and director Nolan have formed a professional bond which elevates the game of both players — another fine, matured performance from this veteran actor who seems to work less hard and produce more dramatic intrigue with each role he takes.

Caught up in this mortal duel are the women in these mens' lives, Piper Perabo as Julia, Scarlett Johansson as Olivia and Rebecca Hall as Sarah. Just as in the magic acts, these women end up as props in Angiers' and Borden's art and obsession until a tragic event shatters such illusions and fidelity and loyalty between spouses and one-time partners. Angiers professional envy soon becomes very personal as Borden flourishes as a magician, husband and eventually a father. Their combative ambitions soon take dark turns with dire consequences, as Robert's assistant, Olivia, begins working for Borden in his more profitable act. But he too soon pays a price as his affair with Olivia spoils his poisons his marriage with Sarah. As masters of illusion, each man knows exactly how to expose his rival's lies and trickery and sadly these heartfully drawn women soon find themselves used as pawns in the battle.

Rebecca Hall, in her first major film role, delivers a sad and soulful performance as Sarah Borden. As much as her husband waffles on the point of truly loving her, Hall refuses to allow Sarah to retreat behind her 1890s petticoat and succumb to being the victim. Instead Sarah is infused with period-appropriate strength of character, as any woman engaged and disappointed by love should be. As Borden grows more successful and mysterious, so Sarah's pain grows and spoils her once-romantic notions of a marriage. Ms. Hall should receive positive reviews for her work in the film, and hopefully continued roles of weight and promise.

Playing the typical beautiful assistant of not one but both rival illusionists, Scarlett Johansson offers a steady performance subdued by what may be the most underwritten role of the piece. Just as Olivia flits back and forth across the stage delivering props and gimmicks to these magicians, so too do both men regard her as a tool of their trade. Neither valued personally as a lover nor truly trusted as a performing partner, Johansson never really gets the opportunity to lift Olivia above her role in the magic act or the film because she remains functionary in both capacities.

Piper Perabo turns in a serviceable performance in an even more structurally shackled role as as Julia McCullough, Robert Angiers' secret wife. Amid their duties as assistant and audience shill, respectively, to their meal-ticket magician, Milton (played all too briefly by Ricky Jay), Julia and Robert plot to advance their own career ambitions out of their employer's shadow. But when Borden enters the act as another audience plant, events quickly transpire which cost Julia and Robert all their marital hopes and lofty ambitions. Perabo does fine lending a supporting cast hand here as she builds her career with other roles in THE CAVE and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.

Two meatier supporting roles are played by David Bowie as the eccentric electrical real-life genius, Nikola Tesla, and his assistant Mr. Alley, played by Andy Serkis. Riding the cusp of the 20th century and all its technological promise, both Borden and Angiers attempt to harness theatrical lightning in a bottle by exploiting the dazzling power of Tesla's machinery in their magic acts. Thematically, Nikola Tesla illustrates a rational man's ability to constrain his professional and creative obsession to a productive, not destructive, end — if aided by a skillful blend of historical fact and dramatic fiction here. Bowie commands with stillness in his performance, a steady hand and mind nevertheless involved in an irrational war of wizards. His Nikola Tesla speaks well of Bowie's skill as a character actor in the best sense of the term and art.

So too has Andy Serkis developed into a solid character actor, happily devoid of all the CG "costuming" that enfolded his otherwise anonymous work in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and Peter Jackson's KING KONG. Most distinctive is Serkis' expanding, perhaps unending, repertoire of vocal talents — herein he has erased his British accent entirely, replacing it with a dead-on regional American dialect that sounds as natural as it must be effort-filled to replicate. Serkis proves he has not only a good ear for voices but a welcome penchant for subtle screen acting after his works of epic bravura in effects-driven roles. The Nolans' script gives Alley a decent amount of supporting screen time, and Serkis uses it to maximum benefit for the film and his burgeoning career stateside.

Speaking of the screenplay, once again the brothers Nolan base their films on a sturdy rockbed foundation of a script, which exploits the subject's inherent bias toward illusion and fakery without ever devolving into a gimmick-cluttered plot. Though there are plenty of suspenseful twists and turns as these characters pursue ever-darker paths of professional achievement and personal destruction. The script invites its audience to look behind the curtains of stage magic without ever fully surrendering the artistry behind it. THE PRESTIGE is the difference between knowing the trick and knowing how to perform it, perfectly demonstrating our fascination with revealing a mystery and still being captured by it. As layer upon layer of illusion, lies and half-truths are peeled back, our journey to the heart of this intense rivalry of magicians becomes more obscured by how these men manipulate reality to confound our suspicions and expectations. The end result is sheer, enthralling entertainment.

Director Christopher Nolan and cinematographer Wally Pfister paint turn-of-the-century London and Colorado in a stirring palette of colors and textures which enhance the film's mysterious atmosphere. Nolan and Pfister also opted to compose, light and shoot without relying on any digital filming or post-production tools — in short, they made this the old fashioned way, painting with highlights and shadows, tones and hues all seen through the lens and by the actors on-set and locations. The differences are subtle to be sure, but cinemaphiles will no doubt spot and appreciate the difference.

As the film's trailer narration promises, THE PRESTIGE is the third stage of a magic trick, "the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before." And so THE PRESTIGE delivers on that promise, as Christopher Nolan adds another masterwork to his rich history of film successes that promise only to grow better and more consistently enjoyable with each project. His latest work, opening Friday October 20th in theaters everywhere, is no parlor trick at all — THE PRESTIGE is true cinema magic.