“The
Illusionist” is meant as a cat‑and‑mouse
game between Norton’s stage magician and Giamatti’s
police detective, a man charged with debunking
the prestidigitator as a fraud and deflating
the mystery surrounding the man.
A
rather awkward prologue of flashbacks introduces
the unlikely conflict that emerges among the
four key players. Norton’s Eisenheim comes
from working‑class stock, yet he and
aristocratic neighbor Sophie strike up a friendship
as children bordering on forbidden puppy love.
Society
forces them apart, and Eisenheim–already an
accomplished magician–wanders the globe for
years, accumulating skills of illusion that
appear supernatural. He turns up in Vienna
in 1900, captivating crowds with his trickery,
becoming such a sensation that Crown Prince
Leopold (Rufus Sewell) turns up for a performance.
When
Eisenheim asks for a helper from the audience,
Leopold volunteers his fiancé, who turns out
to be Sophie (Jessica Biel), a woman presented
as far too forceful and independent‑minded to ever have ended up
betrothed to the vain and brutish prince.
Romantic
fireworks apparently are going off between
Eisenheim and Sophie, though you’d never know
it from the dour, drowsy affair on which they
embark.
Leopold
senses that Eisenheim is a rival in love as
well as an obstacle whose popularity challenges
the prince’s philosophy of scientific skepticism.
The prince enlists his attack dog, police
inspector Uhl (Giamatti), demanding that the
magician be exposed as a charlatan.
Though
her performance is as passionless as Norton’s,
Giamatti’s and Sewell’s, Biel stands out if
only for holding her own among three proven
dramatic actors, showing she has the restraint
and subtlety for costume theatrics.
The
bleak action of “The Illusionist” ultimately
tumbles into an artificial and unsatisfying
conclusion meant as a surprise ending but
which has the effect of watching a magician
abandon an elaborate illusion in midstream
and finish with a cheap card trick instead.
Where
director Burger succeeds is in capturing fine
period detail, modern Prague substituting
for old Vienna. Some of the magic tricks have
an air of Gothic horror to them, while Burger
and cinematographer Dick Pope filter their
images to simulate an early 20th century process
called autochrome photography, infusing the
film with soft tints resembling old color
pictures.
The
magic of technique “The Illusionist” possesses,
however, does not compensate for the magic
of substance and passion it lacks.
“The
Illusionist,” a Yari Film Group release, is
rated PG‑13 for some sexuality and violence.
Running time: 109 minutes. Two stars out of
four.
