Mar 08, 2007 12:22 PM
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Important:The movie is The Prestige. Mouthshut should get it right soon.
I have been a long time fan of Hugh Jackman. I put him up on the pedestal of my "Guilty Pleasures" along with Paul Betanny. I mean, c'mon, the X-Men movies would have been NOTHING without the mighty Hugh. But I am not here to rave about Hugh Jackman, really. My purpose is to write about The Prestige. What. A. Movie.
An added bonus was the fact that it featured Christian Bale. If you have seen Empire of the Sun, American Psycho, (I haven't seen The Machinist yet, but am sure it will be mindblowing too), andBatman Begins, this man has not repeated himself. According to IMDB, he hasn't even repeated the same accent in any of his movies! How remarkable is that?
And then, there is the delightful Michael Caine as the narrator. One of my all time favorite get-a-laugh-when-you-are-down movie, Noises Off, would not be the same without him and Chris Reeve. That review is due.
Back to The Prestige, I saw it on flight from Singapore to San Francisco last month. To avoid jetlag on landing, I had to prevent myself from sleeping, so I started watching these movies - Crank, Driving Lessons, and then The Prestige. It is always a good idea to save the best for last. It kept me WIDE AWAKE!
Director - Christopher Nolan(Insomnia, Memento, Batman Begins)
Cast - Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlet Johansson, Andy Serkis(Gollum gollum!), "David Bowie!", and the others.
Robert(HJ) and Alfred(CB) are assistants to a celebrated magician in London somewhere in the late 19th Century or early 20th C. They start as friends who discuss new tricks and Alfred being the more ambitious/experimental one even risks a few new ideas. One of his tricks goes dangerously awry, killing Robert's wife.
They part ways and start as independent magicians. After initial hiccups, both make a name of their own, but then, in the quest for more, the competition grows in to rivalry in to a war of Prestige and hence, the title.
They go out of their way to learn the other's trade secrets in the process ruining lives of others and their own.
The movie is never slow, but it paces by a few degrees as events progress making it an edge-of-the-seat experience. Deception, Murder, Promiscuity, this movie has it all!
If I say more, I tell you all. If I don't tell you all, it sounds lame, so what are you waiting for? Rush to the friendly neighborhood store and rent the DVD. Am sure you won't be dissappointed.
