Every trick has three parts: The Pledge, in which the audience is shown something ordinary; The Turn, in which something extraordinary happens; and The Prestige, which represents the final payoff at the end. If you cut something in half, you have to put it back together or there's no trick. If something disappears, it has to reappear again. The audience watches for the trick, trying to learn the secret; but they don't really want to know because that would spoil it. They will hold their breath until they know that everything is put to rights, happy not to know the truth of it because then everything would be spoiled.

In the Nolan Brothers' extraordinary film, The Prestige, the illusion is almost impossible to penetrate.

A Contract With the Audience
Two young men are brought up on stage to assist with a trick - they are to tie up the magician's lovely young assistant before she is plunged into a tank of water and has only a minute to escape. But we learn something that magician's audience doesn't know - both these men are shills. Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are both young apprentices, learning illusionism from the inside, out. Tragedy strikes, however, when the beautiful assistant, who is also Angier's wife, fails to make her escape one night and meets her demise during a show.

Thus begins a rivalry that consumes the careers of these two competing magicians. Angier is always embittered, always wondering if Borden tied the wrong knot. He is willing to do anything, steal any trick, to best the man who has the life that was stolen from him when his love died. Borden, who is never able to atone for his mistake, is willing to sacrifice anything - even his own happiness - to be the best magician.

Only time will tell which will succeed.

Something Extraordinary
This was no dime store magic show - The Prestige held me spellbound from the first flicker of the first frame. I'll admit, though, that it took me some time to even develop an idea of what the trick was going to be.

The story isn't told in a linear manner. Instead the tale weaves in and out of years, watching intently as Borden and Angier chase each other's secrets. We are shown the bitter obsession of a fervent battle that has spread over years, and then might be plunged back into a moment of painful reality that ensnared the lives of two much younger men. At times I felt somewhat lost, wondering exactly what I was watching. But eventually I became accustomed to the cinematic slight-of-hand that was unraveling before me.

The Final Payoff
I found this to be a remarkable film. I can't say it was perfect - there were times when I was sure it wasn't really working. But ultimately, magic was created. It's a rare film that can leave me stunned and guessing even after the lights come up at the end. The dark tone of the story and scenery created a perfect backdrop for the bright spark of creative genius that this film represents. I have to give The Prestige the acclaim it deserves.


Recommended: Yes