Reviews by Matt

Maybe I have grown tired of the cookie cutter movies that Hollywood has been putting out over the past few years, but it takes a lot for a movie to make me walk out and say ‘Wow, I want to see that one again.” That was my exact reaction after seeing “The Prestige.”


Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) used to be friends, but after a magic trick gone horribly wrong, the two become bitter rivals. Things start out small, they would sabotage the other magician’s show, but when Borden invents a trick called “The Transported Man,” Angier becomes so obsessed with doing it better, that he spends a lot of time and money on it. The rivalry becomes all-consuming for these two. They get lost in this game of one upping the other that they lose those around them. Borden’s wife, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), grows tired of his love of magic and just wants him to love her. Angier’s girlfriend, Olivia (Scarlett Johansson), becomes just another pawn in their game. Angier sends her to find out how Borden’s trick works. Stuck in the middle of all this is Cutter (Michael Caine). His job can only be described as illusion mechanic. He produces the apparatuses that help make the illusions possible. He warns Angier that obsessions are worse when they become all consuming, but at that point Angier is too far into it to see what he is doing.

Christian Bale was one of the most underrated actors until he got the role of Batman. To the mainstream public he has come out of nowhere, but Bale has taken a lot of roles in small, independent, or obscure movies. It is about time he was seen for the great actor he is. He is great in every role I have ever seen him in and this movie is no exception. Bale’s performance is one of the strongest in the film and proves again that he is one of the best actors today. The thing that makes his performance so great is that, while Jackman gets to play the all-consuming obsession, he plays a subtle obsession. Borden never goes to the lengths that Angier does. The only time we see him get rattled is when his daughter is going to be taken away from him. This subtle flaw in an otherwise unflappable character is a tribute to Bale as an actor.

My question is; can Christopher Nolan make a bad movie? The answer, so far, is no. Since his first big hit, “Memento,” he has made quality movies. He has revitalized the Batman franchise and remained a great director. He makes puzzles, not movies. It is up to the audience to figure out what is truly going on. There is always a payoff with the end of movies, the one moment where it all makes sense and things become clear. Even in “Batman Begins” there were little things that in the end were all apart of the bigger plan. He brings the same intrigue and mystery to “The Prestige” that made “Memento” a work of art more than a movie. The difference is that this is on a grand, theatrical scale. The art of “Memento” was in the clever editing; here it is the grandeur of the magic shows and tricks.


The movie may seem like it is about magicians, but that is only what it looks like. It is about how destructive obsessions can be if we let them take over. Both main characters let themselves succumb to it and it destroys them. The caliber of acting and directing in this film is a welcome vacation from the “more of the same” movies that have been put out in the recent years. If more movies were made with a cast and director of this caliber, then more people would go to the movies.

9 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images.
Runtime: 128 min