| |
PRODUCER: |
Brian Koppelman (Interview with the Assassin), David Levien (Interview with the Assassin), Michael London (The Family Stone, Sideways), Cathy Schulman (Crash), Bob Yari (The Hostage, Crash) |
| |
The Illusionist . . . now you see it, now you . . . (maybe) won't.
The Illusionist is set in the early 1900’s in Vienna. It begins when a boy (Edward Norton) falls in love with a girl (Jessica Biel). But, their love is forbidden because her family has upper class elite social standing and his family is just a working class family. He is forced to leave town. Many years later, he returns to Vienna as a magician. During a performance one night, he takes a volunteer from the audience only to discover his volunteer is the girl he fell in love with many years ago and she is now engaged to a Prince. The Prince begins to believe there may be something going on between his fiancée and the magician. To investigate, he calls upon the town’s Chief Inspector (Paul Giamatti). While investigating the two, the Chief Inspector is thrown right into the middle of a mystery filled with forbidden love, deceit, murder and illusions.
Pick any scene in The Illusionist, and it's unquestionably fantastic. It will certainly contain remarkable settings, explore an intriguing concept, and offer compelling story elements; and, Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti will both be absolutely spectacular, just as you would expect. When you piece the entire movie together, though, it comes up just slightly short of the mark. With the magical, mysterious feel throughout, The Illusionist seems to be leading you to some great revelation – a revelation that will bring the story full circle. Unfortunately, it does not. Instead, the filmmakers resort to a confusing series of flashbacks as an apparent explanation of a less than climatic climax. The magic formula is nothing more than part predictability, part unresolved issues. While it has great potential and moments of brilliance that will make it more than worthwhile for many, The Illusionist is nonetheless a period piece romance that lacks the refreshing creativity of, say, Shakespeare In Love.
|
| |
On the Movie Night Traffic Light on a scale of GREEN meaning “Go – it’s a must see”, YELLOW meaning “Caution – it’s okay” and RED meaning “No - stop don’t do it."
We rate The Illusionist YELLOW. Caution – this one is an entertaining romance, but it’s not great. |
