The Prestige (2006)

There's love and loss and angst blown way out of proportion. There's one-upmanship motivated by a grudge and bitterness and a desire to "win" -- or perhaps simply a desire that the other lose -- even if you have to play dirty to do so. It's also about magicians, so that's pretty cool and very novel (I've not yet seen The Illusionist, weirdly released the month prior to this one).

Watching these men struggle to bring the other down was thrilling, but I found my allegiance constantly switching between the two. It was hard to know who was in the "right" and, although I know it was told in this way so that "the reveal" would be stunning, it also had the effect of making me sure that I wasn't being told the whole story...which meant I knew that my working theories were faulty and that hurt the movie a bit. Once I did figure out a main secret, the movie went on for another 40 minutes assuming I was still in the dark, which made the film feel padded.

It was gorgeous, original, smart, and wonderfully acted. It was also a little long and manipulative.

B+