Well, The Illusionist is definitely not the best movie I've seen this year. It's entertaining, sure, but when compared to the other magic movie that came out in 2006, The Prestige, The Illusionist can't keep up. I didn't really care about the characters - so what if Ed and Jess wanted to be together but were kept apart by societal standards? Doesn't matter to me. Also, the film devices didn't move me. Same ol' story, period drama, inaccurate accents, fancy costumes, gas lighting - I've seen it before a hundred times. Most importantly, the magic, which should have been the best part of the movie, was sadly the worst. What was so great about The Prestige was all the tricks were explained. In this, so many things were left unexplained, which isn't what a moviegoer wants - they want the answers, dammit!
I did really enjoy Paul Giamatti's performance. I'm so used to seeing him as a bumbling Everyman, full of angst and depression, that seeing him portray a turn-of-the-century police inspector was really refreshing - and I think he might be a really good actor. Yay! He saved the movie.The Illusionist is the sort of thing you can pick up at the video store when there's NOTHING else you want to see.
The Illusionist - C
2 comments:
I wondered about this movie, but I have to admit that Edward Norton's hair in the pictures has kind of scared me away from renting it. I know I know, you can't judge an actor by his hair, but I just can't help myself.
Edward Norton is always a toss up for me ... ever since Primal Fear - there is just something sort of creepy about him. But he does manage to snag beautiful women, so there must be something ok about him.
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