About JE Smith
Location: Irving, Texas
Occupation: Freelance
Bio: JE Smith, aka Jeff S., is a forty-something guy who was born in Illinois, but has been living in the wilds of Dallas, Texas for almost twenty years. He has been a movie nut ever since seeing Escape from the Planet of the Apes at Steeleville Theater in 1971 and is also obsessed with Doctor Who, Ultraman, Star Trek, The X Files, Batman, Spider-Man, Doc Savage and many other pop culture icons. For fifteen years (1981 - 1996) he published the sf/horror filmzine Wet Paint, and tried his hand at self-publishing his own comics with Bulletproof (1999, 3 issues) and Complex City (2000 - 2003, 4 issues and a trade paperback), both of which bombed. He's been writing film reviews for almost thirty years and is just getting the hang of it. Married to the lovely Barbara for over 15 years, and owned by a sleepy cat named Max.
Posts: 176
More from this author
So what’s with all the magicians lately? Hard on the heels of The Illusionist comes The Prestige, another tale of turn-of-the-century prestidigitation, from the same basic creative team as Batman Begins (director, co-writer, cinematographer, editor, production designer, and several of the actors). And what fan-geek among us can ignore that fact that the film features a face-off between Wolverine and Batman? But put all that aside – because The Prestige is one of the best films of the year, and it needs to be celebrated on its own merits.
Based on the novel by Christopher Priest, The Prestige (the title comes from one of the three “acts” of any successful magic trick) features Hugh Jackman as Rupert Angier, and Christian Bale as Alfred Borden, aspiring magicians in the late 1800s, who started their careers together but, after a tragedy, became bitter rivals. Borden is the superior thaumaturge, but he lacks stage presence, while Angier is a supreme showman. When Borden creates a truly mystifying illusion called “The Transported Man,” Angier first replicates it using traditional techniques, but becomes obsessed with learning its true method, and goes to tragic lengths to obtain the secret.
There’s a lot more to the story, but to synopsize the details would spoil the rich tapestry of this superb film. Co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the film has a sprawling, time-shifting narrative that somewhat recalls his career-making work on Memento. The action takes place over several years (perhaps decades, but specific dates are only given at one point in the film), as we witness the degeneration of the relationship between the two men. Jackman and Bale are both superb, and wonderful support is lent by Michael Caine as Angier’s assistant Mr. Cutter, and Rebecca Hall as Bordon’s sad wife Sarah. Andy Serkis is great fun in a small role, and David Bowie is surprisingly convincing as the mysterious Dr. Tesla. Scarlett Johansson, in her 789th movie of the year, is largely decorative; this is the kind of part actors usually play when they are up-and-coming rather than already established, but maybe she just liked the script.
The period detail is sumptuous, and the production design by Nathan Crowley is so opulent that the movie almost looks like a Batman sequel at times. Cinematographer Wally Pfister (who has shot most of Nolan’s films) bathes it all in a gorgeous amber glow, making even the London squalor look pretty. No doubt about it, this is a “movie” movie, and doesn’t have much connection to real life, but it is so skillfully mounted that you won’t even notice.
I’m going to knock off half a star for one aspect of the plot – not revealed until the very last moments of the film – that stretches credibility a little too far, and the slight predictability of some elements of the story, but that should not stop anyone from running – and you need to run fast, since period films traditionally don’t do well at the box office – to take in one of the finest films of recent memory. The Prestige is grandly entertaining, and yet personal and heartbreaking. It is the essence of great Hollywood filmmaking.
