By Brenda Cowan

First is the pledge, second is the turn, and third is the prestige, or so Cutter (Michael Caine), who builds the contraptions used by musicians in their illusions, explains in The Prestige. Is this the basis of magic or the reality of life? I was fascinated with the premise of this film; never having read the novel it is based on but trusting Christopher Nolan's ability for storytelling, I went with an open mind. And my mind at times was fooled.

The premise of the story: Two rival magicians, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), start out friends but become bitter enemies. Both begin their careers as fledging magicians under Cutter’s guidance until a horrible accident ends their friendship and starts a rivalry that knows no bounds. Each becomes consumed with hatred and jealously of the other.

The mind games being played outweigh the sleight of hand. Nolan shows us the mechanics and logic behind magic. The early crude tricks wear thin on the audience in the story and the movie theater, but I believe that is part of the point; the need to not only one up the act down the street but also one up yourself becomes oppressive. Eventually, the two rivals lose sight of the basis of their feud, continuing almost out of habit. Angier becomes obsessed with learning Borden’s secrets; in turn, Borden can't just walk away. He has to keep the game going, but at an eventual higher price.

I have to say, both Jackman and Bale turn in a stellar performance and switch around within their characters with such ease that the sleight of hand happening before your eyes in their lives will be hard for most people to catch. Don't worry—I firmly believe in NOT giving away the prestige!

Caine is wonderful as Cutter, the expert on magic tricks whose preference is to remain behind the scenes. He is older and wiser and a lot more practical than either of his young protégés. Too bad neither one listens closely enough to him, especially Angier. David Bowie does an impressive turn as Nikola Tesla, the scientist who was in direct competition with Thomas Edison. The first few moments he was on screen, I thought, “Look, it’s David Bowie!” but then he sold me on his performance. And what a treat it was to see Andy Serkis (Gollum of The Lord of the Rings) as his assistant.

Surprisingly, I was a little disappointed in Scarlett Johansson's performance as Olivia Wendscombe. I felt she came up a bit weak next to Jackman and Bale. Both men use Olivia in the story to get at one another, though they both have strong feelings for her. I thought Johansson should have been grittier in her performance. The desperation she must have been feeling didn't quite come through, but it was adequate.

On the downside of the storytelling, I think Nolan took too long to reveal the true prestige happening in the film; about 15 or 20 minutes could have been trimmed from the final edit. For me, some of the clues, especially early on, were very obvious, and I would have liked more mystery.

The story does jump around, past to present and back again. I had no trouble following the path the filmmakers took and actually quite enjoy the challenge of keeping up with the storyline when presented that way. But the film does put some very real questions forward. It does challenge you to think. No matter what your reaction is to this film, I bet you’ll end up discussing it at length.

What is real and what isn't will be challenged. Not seeing boundaries can have terrible consequences and when you walk away from illusion and attempt to make it reality, the world will make you pay. Sound ominous? Go see the movie and you'll understand. This is a solid story with excellent performances that will make you think and wonder.

Check out the magic at the official movie site.

Touchstone Pictures
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriters: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan
Starring: Hugh Jackman (Robert Angier), Christian Bale (Alfred Borden), Michael Caine (Cutter), Scarlett Johansson (Olivia Wendscombe), Rebecca Hall (Sarah), Andy Serkis (Alley), Piper Perabo (Julia McCullogh), David Bowie (Nikola Tesla)
Running Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Rated: PG-13

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