Review of The Prestige (2006) by Ben L — 21 Apr 2015

The Prestige might be the ultimate test to see if a movie with a twist ending can live up to the hype when a viewer goes in (like me) already knowing the twist. It also might be the ultimate test to see if I can talk about a movie with a twist ending without giving away any spoilers. If you don't know, The Prestige is a film about 2 aspiring young magicians who develop a heated rivalry and work tirelessly to outdo one another, and also discover their rival's secrets. I found the non-linear story-telling to be quite difficult to wrap my mind around. For the first 30 minutes or more of the film I was at a complete loss to figure out what was happening when. As a result I imagine this is a film that might benefit from a re-watch. I will say that the Nolans crafted a script that was quite complex, and even with full knowledge of the secrets of their tricks going in, there was plenty to watch and try to figure out. In that way the movie succeeds at being a perfectly executed magic trick in itself, because hours after watching you're trying to figure out how the director did that, and if you didn't know the secret going in you might even be impressed by the way the movie tricked you despite all the foreshadowing that they loaded the film with. It's a brilliant exercise in misdirection. So, I have no complaints about the script, it is quite inventive and original.

Hugh Jackman did a decent job with his role. I felt that, at times, he was a bit one-note when all he seemed to be portraying was frustration and jealousy. However, towards the end of the film he's asked to do a lot more emotionally and he pulls it off. Christian Bale, on the other hand, is just remarkable from start to finish. He probably has the more difficult role to execute, but he does it brilliantly. I bet watching the film multiple times would help you to catch even more nuance in his performance. Scarlett Johansson was a bit wasted in her role as the magician's assistant. She plays a key part in the plot as a go-between for the two competitors, but she doesn't get to do much with that. Perhaps if she were allowed in on the secret with one of the men it might have given her more to do. Surprisingly, the female performance that most impressed me was Rebecca Hall who plays the wife of Christian Bale. She is essential in figuring out what is really happening, and plays her mix of confusion and heartbreak perfectly. There are a number of other great actors in the supporting roles including names like Michael Caine, David Bowie, and Andy Serkis (not in motion capture) and they all perform brilliantly. It's a great cast list, and each actor was well-suited to their role.

There were a few things that I didn't enjoy about the experience of watching The Prestige without the wonder of being surprised at the end. This is where I'll have to delve into some spoilers, so I apologize. First of all, I thought the makeup effects were not very good. I'd be really surprised if most people were fooled by Fallon because he looks like Christian Bale with a horrible fake beard and glasses on. However the real dilemma I struggled with was the illogical nature of so many of the plot points when you know the end. Why would the brother who didn't love their wife ever go home to her? I realize they took turns, but it seems the brother who loves her would always get the turn with her. Next, why did Hugh Jackman feel the need to murder his doubles, couldn't he have figured out a way of executing the trick in the exact same way that Bale did once he had a single duplicate of himself? Also, why didn't the brother who wasn't in jail take the police to Jackman or something in order to clear his brothers' name instead of letting him die? Clearly he had Michael Caine on his side at that point, so they could have vouched for it being the same man that Bale was supposed to have killed. It even bothered me a little that they have it timed out how long to wait before it's too late for someone to escape the water trap, but they didn't take into account that the ax they were using couldn't break the stinking glass. A lot of this stuff is nit-picky, but it did bother me a bit while watching so it's worth mentioning. In general I thought the smarts of the movie outweighed the plot holes, so The Prestige is a good film that I'd like to watch again sometime. It's not quite on par with my favorite Nolan movies, but it's close.