NOTE: the following was written by my 13 year-old daughter Kira, who has agreed to provide a teen’s perspective on media that might interest other teens. With the exception of minor editorial corrections, the views and phrasing are hers alone.
Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts. The first part is called ‘The Pledge’. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird, or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it, to see that it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But, of course, it probably isn’t. The second act is called ‘The Turn’. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret, but you won’t find it. Because, of course, you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet, because making something disappear isn’t enough. You have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act. The hardest part. The part we call ‘The Prestige’.
These are the words that greet you when you turn on The Prestige. Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Sir Michael Caine, The Prestige tells a tale of revenge, betrayal, heartbreak, jealousy, and lies. It’s the story of Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale), two aspiring magicians, and how their desire to destroy one another destroys everybody around them.
The movie centers around one thing: “The Transported Man”. It is a trick that every magician wants, but none can truly have: the magician displays himself, vanishes, and appears in another location in a split second. Some have come up with ways to mimic it, but nobody can really do it. Angier is positive that Borden has the real trick, and will stop at nothing to have its secret. His obsession borders on insanity, driving him to Colorado to meet the infamous Nikola Telsa (played by rock star David Bowie). Cutter (Caine), Angier’s mentor, tries to stop his self-destructive quest, but cannot.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, but found myself very confused during my first viewing. You never know where it’s going to go. You may think you know it all, but you don’t. I loved this movie, but if you aren’t the best at following plots, I wouldn’t recommend it. If you have the guts to view this movie, ask yourself this one question while watching this: Are you watching closely?
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