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.
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