The Prestige

I will be the first to tell you, I don't care for period pieces. They are always so drab and blah. The Prestige on the other hand is the complete opposite. It has everything a great action, suspenseful drama should have. It is Directed by the Brilliant Christopher Nolan and it stars Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johannson, and a brief appearance by Piper Perabo. If that cast doesn't make you want to go get and watch it immediately then obviously your not a movie person. I mean, Batman and the Wolverine, along with Black Widow? Sweetness. The film is set in London at the end of the 19th century when entertainment is next to nil. Magicians, however, are wooing audiences the world over and it seems to be quite the lucrative business. Alfred (Bale) and Robert (Jackman) are assistants to a magician. They set up the props and help with the show. Roadies, if you will. When Robert's wife dies during a show (she's also part of the act), Robert directly blames Alfred and the feud begins. Alfred and Robert have become very good Magicians in their own right. It is not enough that they are both mildly successful, they are constantly in each others business trying to divulge the other's secrets and tricks. The one-upmanship is really what the film is all about. Each has moved on, but then Robert meets a man named Tesla (David Bowie) and his entire act gets reformed into something the world has never seen. He is now pushing the boundaries of god like illusions and the wealth and fame that come along with it could not make him happier. Alfred is a perfectionist when it comes to his show, and if he can't have the trick his competition is using he must create a bigger one, which he will do, but at what cost. This film is made up with some fantastic brain teasers. It also does a great job of getting the audience involved to figure out what exactly is happening. It turns quickly into a movie based on ethics and revenge and so many twists it's hard to keep up. To be honest, I am not sure why I don't own this film. One day I will. 

"Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige". - Cutter (Michael Caine)

NBM rates The Prestige - Phenomenal