The Prestige
Director: Christopher Nolan
Year Released: 2006
Rating: 1.5
Two rival magicians (Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman) keep trying to one-up each other in the trick department - Bale comes up a mind-blowing stunt no one can figure out, so Jackman decides to turn-it-up-a-notch, resorting to metaphysics and Nikola Tesla (David Bowie). I'm guessing Nolan's trying to create another Memento with one of those 'stellar endings' that sends shockwaves over the whole movie, but his third act in this picture is so preposterous I felt it obliterated all (moderate) good graces accumulated over the half decent first act. The performances are decent without overwhelming - the now-ubiquitous Scarlett Johansson does her damnedest to keep her accent going - although that could be due to the rather rudimentary character development (which takes second place to the plot development).
