Every Little Thing They Do Is Magic

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige is a tale of two Victorian-era magicians (Christian Bale’s Alfred Borden and Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier) who become lifelong rivals intensely obsessed with one-upping each other.

The film’s title refers to the third and final act of a magic trick, which incorporates shocking twists and turns.

The Prestige is full of these elements; the second you think you know something, it turns you really don’t.

Not surprisingly, it asks, from beginning to end, if you are watching closely. This might prove too difficult a task since Bale and Jackman (as well as co-stars Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson, playing a stage producer and a magician's assistant who becomes involved with both Angier and Borden, respectively) prove delightfully magnetic.

The story (co-written by Jonathan Nolan, on whose short story the director based Memento) is a sophisticated, non-linear one – oftentimes and edge-of-your-seater – that will have you wondering for what exactly you have been set up: a magic trick film or a magical trick of a film.

Yes, The Prestige is this season’s second magic-themed film (The Illusionist would be the first), yet it is just as enjoyable.

My Rating ***

Photo: Touchstone Pictures.