Review – The Prestige

If this had been “Nicola Tesla: The Motion Picture” it would have been a much better production. Not to mention shorter. The parts that feature David Bowie playing the famous, eccentric scientist are actually entertaining. The rest of the movie is a dull flop about a couple of stage magicians striving to out-do each other or at least wreck each other’s acts and personal lives. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman muddle through their parts with the aplomb they previously brought to their roles as comic book characters. However, the bulk of the problem here appears to be the story itself. This is one of those shows that lives primarily for the final turn of its own screw, and such productions die a lingering death when that turn is so ham-handedly telegraphed in advance that the audience is left only with the futile hope that somehow it won’t turn out the way we all know it’s going to. The technical elements of this production (especially the art direction) are impressive, but they can’t do the job by themselves. Mildly amusing