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Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as warring magicians in this period mystery from director Christopher Nolan (The Odyssey, Oppenheimer). After Bale’s character makes a mistake that leads to the accidental death of Jackman’s bride-to-be during a live performance, the two engage in a years-long revenge pattern. They sabotage each other’s performances, inflicting escalating degrees of emotional and physical harm until the vendetta finally turns deadly.
Like nearly every Christopher Nolan film, The Prestige is an exercise in heady, austere storytelling. Nolan keeps Bale’s character mysterious enough, and Jackman’s revenge-fueled enough, that we never fully empathize with either of these mad men. The film’s moral center is handed off to a worthy supporting player, Michael Caine, who plays a concerned mentor to the adversaries. Plot-driven films are usually less likely to be engrossing, but Christopher and Jonathan Nolan’s screenplay, based on a novel by Christopher Priest, is a fascinating puzzle involving slight-of-hand, misdirection, and even a touch of the supernatural. It’s a well-told tale even if you spot some of the twists coming.
The late 1800s setting is sumptuously evoked and beautifully captured by cinematographer Wally Pfister. The fictional tale gains verisimilitude by involving real-world figures like Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, whose race to bring electricity to the masses mirrors Jackman and Bale’s fierce competition. Tesla is played by the suitably enigmatic David Bowie. Other notable supporting players include Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis, and Rebecca Hall.
Oscar Nominations: Best Cinematography (Wally Pfister), Best Art Direction