The Prestige...review
Oct. 24th, 2006 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valis2Went to see The Prestige on Sunday.
It was disturbing to me. I'm not certain why, or how, but by the end of the movie I was rather...unsettled. I left the theater and was deep in thought for several minutes. I even sat through the entire Radiohead song during the credits, which I never do.
As is often the case with more complicated movies, I liked it and I disliked it.
Overall, the structure of the movie matched the structure of a magic trick. The setup, the turn, the prestige...all were represented well. But this movie, and its cousin The Illusionist, just did not connect with me entirely. There is a barrier, of course, because all movies that feature such a conceit have to employ some sort of sleight-of-hand; the audience must not know some integral part(s) of the story, in order to make the "reveal" that much sweeter.
But I find that this barrier distances me from the work, and I can't quite connect with it. Overall, I thought it was very interesting, I adored seeing Ricky Jay, was quite into many of the concepts, but I was distracted by a few of the performances, and I thought some of the setups were a bit...hamhanded.
David Bowie did nothing for me, except for the initial shock of, hey, that's David Bowie. He was waaay too wooden, and his lines were really waaay too pretentious.
I adored Alley. I thought he was absolutely great, and he injected just the right note into the movie with his casual, shifty demeanor. Perfect!
Michael Caine was smashing, effortless, as always. He makes it all look so easy. I thought he was great.
Christian Bale was pretty good, I enjoyed his performance.
I was so completely bored with Hugh Jackman.
Loved Scarlett, though, and the wife was terrific, too.
I think it was really the structure of it that intrigued me the most. The duality of many of the parts, the interesting notions involved...magic vs. science, showstopper vs. talent...the double roles of both Hugh and Christian...Edison vs. Tesla...and then the final, fascinating concept of the duplicating machine.
I think I need to read the book.
On one hand, it was exhilarating (at points) to watch. On the other, I'll never watch it again, I'm fairly certain. Except maybe to beam at Alley a bit more.
It was disturbing to me. I'm not certain why, or how, but by the end of the movie I was rather...unsettled. I left the theater and was deep in thought for several minutes. I even sat through the entire Radiohead song during the credits, which I never do.
As is often the case with more complicated movies, I liked it and I disliked it.
Overall, the structure of the movie matched the structure of a magic trick. The setup, the turn, the prestige...all were represented well. But this movie, and its cousin The Illusionist, just did not connect with me entirely. There is a barrier, of course, because all movies that feature such a conceit have to employ some sort of sleight-of-hand; the audience must not know some integral part(s) of the story, in order to make the "reveal" that much sweeter.
But I find that this barrier distances me from the work, and I can't quite connect with it. Overall, I thought it was very interesting, I adored seeing Ricky Jay, was quite into many of the concepts, but I was distracted by a few of the performances, and I thought some of the setups were a bit...hamhanded.
David Bowie did nothing for me, except for the initial shock of, hey, that's David Bowie. He was waaay too wooden, and his lines were really waaay too pretentious.
I adored Alley. I thought he was absolutely great, and he injected just the right note into the movie with his casual, shifty demeanor. Perfect!
Michael Caine was smashing, effortless, as always. He makes it all look so easy. I thought he was great.
Christian Bale was pretty good, I enjoyed his performance.
I was so completely bored with Hugh Jackman.
Loved Scarlett, though, and the wife was terrific, too.
I think it was really the structure of it that intrigued me the most. The duality of many of the parts, the interesting notions involved...magic vs. science, showstopper vs. talent...the double roles of both Hugh and Christian...Edison vs. Tesla...and then the final, fascinating concept of the duplicating machine.
I think I need to read the book.
On one hand, it was exhilarating (at points) to watch. On the other, I'll never watch it again, I'm fairly certain. Except maybe to beam at Alley a bit more.
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Date: 2006-10-25 03:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-25 11:39 pm (UTC)