I've often felt that the old adage 'they don't make films like they used to' should come attached with a caveat. On the surface, it's enough of a truism to hold up (though I suspect people have been saying this for as long as movies have been made), but it leaves out the element that goes quite aways toward explaining why they don't make 'em like they used to any more; namely because, whenever they do, people hardly ever go out and support them. If you build it and they don't come, well, then eventually you're not going to get to keep building it - the people footing the bill are in the money making business after all, and The Rock will always make them more money than an interesting, well-crafted character study.

Which brings me to The Illusionist, which I'm all but ordering you to go out and see. Is it a good film? Absolutely. A great one? Not particularly. It does what it does well - keeps you intrigued (and often, entertained) throughout its nearly two hour running time - but that's not the sole reason why I hope you go out and plop down your hard-earned money on it. No, I'm hoping you do so for my own simple and rather selfish reasons: I want them to keep making solid, quality films like this, films that don't insult your intelligence or play to the lowest common denominator, stories and characters not aimed at that all-important teenage male demographic (though I guess it could be argued that any film featuring Jessica Biel is going to be at least somewhat appealing to that crowd). I want more films like The Illusionist.

Edward Norton stars as Eisenheim the Illusionist, a brilliant magician and entertainer whose "illusions" often border on the miraculous, growing a small orange tree from a tiny orange seed in real time, painting a portrait with no brushes or pens. Performing for sold out crowds in Vienna, his popularity only grows with each new trick, rich and poor alike flock to his shows and soon the town begins to wonder if he might not possess some kind of actual supernatural power.

All of this fuss eventually catches the attention of the royal family, and more specifically, Crown Prince Leopold(Rufus Sewell) and his fiancee, Sophie (Jessica Biel), who was a young Eisenheim's first love many years ago. A petty and arrogant man, the Crown Prince soon becomes rather obsessed Eisenheim, trying to discover how he is doing his tricks, going so far as to invite him to a small private party to perform, only to attempt to explain away every single illusion that Eisenheim conjures up. And things only get more complicated once he realizes that Sophie and Eisenheim seem to have a deeper connection than he realized, a fact brought to his attention by the town's Chief Inspector (Paul Giamatti), a Crown Prince loyalist.

Up to this point, The Illusionist had been a well-drawn character study and period piece, but then an event happens which changes everything and the film becomes a mystery thriller of sorts which spins out over the last third of the film until its somewhat predictable conclusion. This final third of the film is certainly its weakest act, but it still manages to succeed - largely due to the fine performances of Norton and Giamatti, two actors who could make a QVC infommercial exciting to watch.

Writer/director Neil Burger, who adapted the screenplay from a short story by Steven Millhauser, must also be given some credit, as he handles the film's mood and tonality with admirable skill; for a fairly inexperienced director (this is only his second film), the level of confidence and consistency brought to the entire film is surely impressive. Also of note is the fantastic score from veteran Philip Glass and the excellent camerawork from Dick Pope, both of which greatly enhance the mood of the film without calling particular attention to themselves, and allow an already appealing story the chance to be even better.





Recommended: Yes