Abracadabra

 THE PRESTIGE (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Though I admire director Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, I had always hoped he would return to the unforeseen twists of a hyperbolic mystery like his "Memento." I am late to the party with my 2022 review of a 2006 film called "The Prestige" yet here we are. "The Prestige" is a solid production with incredible cinematography and two superb performances at its center yet I never quite felt that everything was beyond the mere surface of its various tricks up its sleeve. The unbelievable finale will leave you with your mouth hanging.

Two magicians at the turn of the century begin as "volunteers" for Milton the Magician (Ricky Jay). One of them is Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who can conjure simple magic tricks yet has very little showmanship. The other is Angiers (Hugh Jackman), who has showmanship and can conjure more elaborate, showier tricks like placing his wife, tied up with ropes, inside a water tank. If anything goes wrong, Cutter (Michael Caine), a magician and stage engineer, will be on hand with an axe - he has a career of being the engineer of such tricks. Something goes fatally wrong when Angiers' wife (Piper Perabo) can't free herself from being bound inside the water tank and drowns. Guess who is blamed? Alfred, who simply made the rope knots too tight. 

The rest of "The Prestige" focuses on Borden and Angiers and their attempts to wow the audience. Borden conjures a trick where he is seemingly transported from one wardrobe to the next. Angiers can't figure out his trick - how does he do it? For assistance, he consults Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, talk about electrifying casting) who is working on alternative currents of electricity where our bodies serve as conductors. The idea is that maybe Tesla can build a teleportation device for Angiers, one in which miraculously, oh, heck, I shan't give it away. It is the secret of the film, the prestige factor, that can undo one's enjoyment if I give it away.

"The Prestige" is a handsomely mounted and elaborately detailed production with some very fine performances, notably Hugh Jackman who is and looks larger-than-life so playing a magician was perfectly tailored to his abilities. Christian Bale is a little more remote as he can be, more muted in expressions yet a galvanizing actor all the way (especially since he is playing more than one role, and we will leave it at that). Michael Caine informs the film with his more nuanced portrayal of a man who has seen it all and knows that extreme obsessions (Angiers needs to know how Borden performs his teleportation trick) can lead to destruction. The whole film plays on Angiers and Borden trying to disrupt their own illusions on stage. The film derails a bit with the inclusion of the women in these magicians' lives. Scarlett Johansson is never believable in this time period as Borden's mistress and assistant, who also has an affection for Angiers. Rebecca Hall fits the time period to a tee as Borden's wife, though her character is more than a bit undernourished. 

"The Prestige" is quite forceful in its narrative, especially with the magician rules such as  (1) the Pledge, in which a seemingly real situation is set up, (2) the Turn, in which the initial reality is challenged, and (3) the Prestige, where all is set right again. Once we get past the foreshadowed final twist involving a magical act, the idea of The Prestige rule doesn't quite settle in. All is right again when the film is over yet, not unlike the fabulous sleight of hand narrative tricks of "The Usual Suspects," we come up empty wondering how we arrived at its conclusion. A solid Nolan effort that will make you want to rewatch it and see what you missed.

Harold Pinter has not sprinkled enough fresh powder

 SLEUTH (2007)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There was no reason in hell to remake the 1972 twisty classic "Sleuth" with its slew of willful mind games and carefully balanced moments of truth and comedy between two of the greatest actors of all time, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. This 2007 refurbished version with Michael Caine playing Olivier's role and Jude Law playing Caine's role is a novel idea I suppose, not to mention a new spin on some of the original story's events by no less than the legendary writer Harold Pinter. Yet all that is nothing more than faint praise.

Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine) is a very wealthy mystery novelist who lives in a country manor in the middle of the English countryside, the kind where a gunshot could probably not be heard for miles. He has an extensive surveillance system and catches the arrival of a car driven by none other than Milo Tindle (Jude Law), who is having an affair with Andrew's wife. Andrew taunts and teases Milo including Milo's Italian heritage (or is this young man actually Irish?). Eventually Andrew wants Milo to commit a burglary in his own home and steal some priceless jewelry. Why? Well, it is the only way Andrew will permit Milo to take his wife, please, and have the good life. Of course, Andrew still hasn't divorced his wife.

The mind games build and build and lead to a twist involving Andrew and some private investigator who is searching for Milo, and then more twists that lead to a flirtation with homosexual overtones. The latter twist was not present in the 1972 film, nor was the inside of Andrew's home resembling anything like a modernist, cubist-like museum with blue-ish hues present either. I know every remake can use an upgrade but this manor feels like it should be a gallery.

Michael Caine has more nuance and implications in his mannerisms and long stares than anything Jude Law does. Jude is simply fodder for Caine yet I never felt fully convinced by Jude's performance - he seems like a gimmick from the start and never builds his character with a shred of sympathy like Caine did in the original. Director Kenneth Branagh makes good use of the location and with the intense close-ups of both actors yet the art direction of the inside of the manor never quite manages to look like the outside - the inside feels more like a swanky New York apartment on the Upper West Side. 

"Sleuth" is not an execrable remake but it is an unnecessary one and Harold Pinter hasn't sprinkled enough fresh powder on the dusty and exciting original as one might hope.