The Prestige

Review by Clint Morris

We know what our legs are for- walking, we know our hands are for – to reach the remote, we know what our mouths are for – to lip-sync to Jamie-Lynn Spears tracks, and we know what the device between our storks are for – ogling, but what about the pile of mush that’s buried deep within the cranium? Any idea what this so-called ‘brain’ is for? Well, I’ll tell ya – it’s for watching a Christopher Nolan movie. Don’t switch it on for one of the filmmaker’s mind-twists, and you’ll be as lost at Sea as Wilson the Volleyball.

Like his breakthrough mind trip Memento – not so much Batman Begins; though it too was a brilliant movie – The Prestige will split its audience into two distinct segments: those who’ll be stopping in at the 7-Eleven on the way home for a satchel of Panadol, and those who won’t be.  

This pilot? Well, he’s without headache, but in some respects, he wishes he were. After all, it’s the sign of a great cinematic brainteaser, right?  So off the bat, Christopher Nolan has let us down: his film isn’t as smart as it lets on it is.

“Every great magic trick consists of three acts”, Michael Caine’s character, magician’s aide Cutter, informs us at the start of the film. “ The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.”

Its assumed that all three steps have a place to play, all are all vital ingredients of the swindle and are stages that only get better with each one that follows. Pity this rule doesn’t apply to three-act feature films.

The first part, The Pledge, where we meet budding musicians, Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), is quite compelling. The characters’ fortitude and inscrutability gives the impression that there’s better stuff to come. When a loved one’s untimely death tears the two apart, it opens up the floodgates to an infinite possibilities.

The second part, The Turn, is where things start to go a bit awry – but no less interesting. This is where our characters ultimately try and outsmart each other in the trick department, going to some pretty malicious measures to one up one another. In essence, the two men are basically trying to steal each other’s tricks from one another – using whatever method needed to do so.  “The man stole my life. I steal his trick”, as Rupert says.

The final act, The Prestige, should be the big pay-off – but it’s not. The film’s big twist is predicted by most way too early, and even then Nolan carries on with the assumption that nobody has any idea what he’s got up his sleeve. Thing is, his twist isn’t that smart… it’s actually a pretty lazy one… and once you’ve guessed it – which, as I said, will probably occur way before the third act kicks in – there’s little else to do but count down the minutes until the ‘people in the film’ catch up with you. A little more mystery, and maybe a later reveal, may have worked – but with such a bland twist, it may not have made any difference.

Having said that, two out of three acts are quite solid – and that’s usually the basis of a good film. Jackman and Bale are their usually superb self, the screenplay is (sans the twist) very strong and captivating, and the production design is outstanding. A sure sign of whether a film is enjoyable or not is whether you’re wiggling your ass like a hooker on a pole by the two-hour mark, and this doesn’t evoke any such restlessness.

Just a pity it didn’t encompass a little more ‘magic’.

3.5 out of 5

The Prestige
Australian release: 16th November, 2006
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, David Bowie, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Christopher Nolan
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