The Illusionist (1 Viewer)

[juliusM]

i saw this a few days ago and i enjoyed it. my man ed has never failed me so far, and this is no exception. i think their performance (including giamatti, biel) is even oscar worthy. apparently, it's doing very well in the box office. if you haven't seen it, it's out on select theaters nationwide. i'm sure you'll enjoy it

 

[Robert Crawford]

I enjoyed the film, even though I guess the ending half way into the film, but I wanted to see how it was done.




Crawdaddy

 

[Seth=L]

Excellent movie. loved every moment of it. Edward is the MAN, guy can play in so many roles it's unbelievable. Jessica Beil wasn't to bad either, though she doesn't look like a typical high class women of that era. Paul Giamatti was also very cool. And Rufus Sewell, well he is a good guy to hate.

 

[Shawn_KE]

LOVED it. The acting was great from everyone, espeically Giamatti. Yea, you could see the ending coming, but it was nice to see it unfold.

 

[Henry Gale]

Maybe not....I had a problem with what was IN the locket. Could a poor boy circa 1885 get a good photo of himself?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I thought the film had too ho-hum of a pace to it (plus I also guessed the outcome early in the film). The energy level was too understated, with the exception of Rufus Sewell, who's a royal bastiche with no redeemable qualities. Norton is good, but understated as the Illusionist. Biel is not as vacant as she typically is, given her past film credits, and actually connects with Norton in their scenes. Giamatti does his darnedest to be convincing in a role that ultimately undermines his character, but purposefully so. The minor nitpicks have to do with some of the illusional cheats for the film's time period that lower the plausibility of the illusions. It's definitely worth a matinee viewing if you are a fan of actors involved in the film.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

 

[PatH]

Has there been a DVD release date for this?

PatH

 

[Pete-D]

Late to the party, but I finally got around to seeing this a few days ago.

I thought it was great. A good old fashioned fable. Norton and Giamatti (who's quickly becoming one of my favorite actors) are good as always, and well Jessica Biel ... is easy on the eyes and gets her character across.

I'll be honest, this film was more "magical" and satisifying to me than any of the summer blockbusters from this year. While the tricks are CGI-assisted, I think they did do a good job in capturing the "wow" factor that people of that era must have felt when watching a great stage magician.

The Philip Glass score is also great, one of my favorites from the year for sure.

A definite A ranking from me.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I just received a DVD screener of this film, watched it last
night, and absolutely loved it!

The only problem I had, and perhaps it can be answered here is....


How did Norton produce the images of dead people on stage?
I know at one point the Inspector was shown a movie projector
as a possible means of it being done, but it is quickly dismissed.

This one bit is the only part of the film that bothers me.

 

[Jason Seaver]

The film cheats.

 

[Tim Glover]

Can't wait until the 9th of January to rent this one. Kind of came and went at our local theater.

 

[Pete-D]

Creating on-stage "ghosts" was actually a huge thing for live magic shows during or around this time period.

They never reveal how it's done in the film, but it was sort of alluded to that it could be done with a projector. Magicians were also doing this trick using angled mirrors and projected images that way.

It's more detailed in the book "Hiding The Elephant" which I believe they used as research for the film. Now granted, I'm not sure if the quality of the ghosts back then are quite as startlingly real as depicted in the movie, but I think it's fair to suspend a little bit of disbelief.

 

[JediFonger]

i,too,am late2partay, but i gotta say i regret missing this in the cinema. i really like the story and norton ole' boy doesn't disappoint at all. he has commented in interviews that this is his most 'controlled' character and that is very true. it seems like he was very much in control of the situation. i think the character's youth made him come back and make sure he could disappear for real. it's similar to batman's bruce wayne coming back from world-trip to learn how to deal with an issue.

i liked the bit with paul G at the end of the film when he realizes how everything is put together. that was cool bit of acting. many people have commented on how good it is to see actors 'think' onscreen and i like that bit at the end.

 

[Colton]

I have my own theory about Eisenheim. I believe the man he met on the road was actually from another dimension and he gave his powers to Eisenheim. This is the only way to explain how he did the tricks. Regardless, it is a great film.

- Colton

 

[Tim Glover]

Went down to my friendly Blockbuster to pick up The Illusionist tonight; free with my Total Access!

Really enjoyed it. Do think the actor who played the Prince (Rufus ?) was just too easy to hate...a bit too one dimensional. The setup was familiar.....but still it was solid. Norton & Giammati were terrific as usual.

FWIW, I liked it a little more than The Presige.

8.5/10

 

[Tino]

Terrific film. Wonderful atmosphere, performances and story. Better than The Prestige (which I also liked).

:star::star::star:1/2

 

[PattyFraser]

Tim and Tino-my husband watched this movie about 10 minutes and declared that he already could tell it was better than The Prestige. When he finished the film he said he wished he had gone with me to see it in the theater.
A very enjoyable film to which I would give an A minus.
However, the DVD transfer is very dark--a problem for me because my TV doesn't handle dark scenes well. The commentary by writer/director is truly excellent--informative, in the same way that Julian Fellows' Gosford Park commentary is. The Making of and featurette with Jessica Biel cover much the same territory and are too short--I'm sure more could be done with them.

 

[Tim Glover]

Another thing about the dvd that I noticed was the overall low volume level. Had to turn it up much higher than usual.

No biggie...

Tino....we agree!

 

[Josh.C]

Glad to see you liked this one Tim. Different from the Prestige?

JC

 

[Holadem]

Dunno if it's related, but I had the same issue at my theatrical screening. I have not seen the DVD. Great little movie btw, holds little surprise, but the atmosphere (photog, art direction, score) and performances make this one.

--
H