the movieGOOMBA

3.5 GOOMBAS

A film about an obsessive competition between two rival magicians, The Prestige took me for an awfully disturbing ride. I must warn all animal lovers out there that there is some gruesome scenes involving canaries and doves.

The film begins at the end. Alfred Borden is arrested for the murder of Robert Angier, and we see the so called murder take place. Except we only see Borden as a witness to Angier's death, so there is still reason to question what actually happened that night. The story progresses via flashback within flashback of Angier's mentor, Cutter, and then a separate flashback of Angier within Cutter's flashback. By choosing to tell the story this way, the plot's execution parallels the madness that you see in these magicians. "Are you watching carefully?" Borden's challenge to his in-film audience becomes a challenge for the sutured, real audience as well.

A good movie is only achieved through a good story, and although I wouldn't say that The Prestige has a fantastic story, it had an adequate one. But what it lacked in story quality it made up for in complex, well thought out themes and motifs, and this is what I loved about the film. Secrets, guise, and performance, three themes that are blatantly obvious on a superficial level, but are actually entwined within every second of the picture. Because of this, The Prestige has quality written all over it.

********SPIOLER WARNING************
Once I got over the fact that Hugh Jackman kills himself over and over again,'part' Christian Bale dies, and the irony of how both/parts of both choose to die, this movie kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The Prestige is one of those movies that keep you alert in the hope that you'll find some clue or hint about 'the reveal', and boy is it morbid and disturbing!