This Mother's Day I decided to do something a little different. My Aunt who lives in Florida furthermore was an avid reader of mine suggested one of her favorite movies that she likes, called The Illusionist. Staring Edward Norton as a Keyser Soze type character with a blend of both sorcerers? Paul Giamatti as detective Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel as what maybe her best performance in her entire film career for which doesn't add up because I looked at her past films after The Illusionist and they, well let's just say they didn't pass expectations for my taste but let's be honest she's still married to Justin Timberlake so on the bright side she's still believe in commitment and if not that that's her damn fault. I've remember watching the Illusionist a long time back for many reasons it's been one of my sister's favorites but to be truthful at that time this film was more like a love story and didn't think much of it back then mainly Christopher Nolan was rocking the theaters with his latest movie The Prestige another film about magic. But don't worry everyone well get to that later, right now let's dive right into if Edward Norton can summon his imaginary friend Brad Pitt.
In 1900's Vienna, mesmeric entertainer Eisenheim's (Edward Norton) magical abilities are wowing crowds, with an act that ranges from mere tricks to an apparent capacity to raise the dead. However, he has also long been in love with Douches Sophie Von Teschen (Jessica Biel), which puts him in a dangerous competition with the violent, scheming Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who jumps at the opportunity to have the magician arrested on grounds of necromancy.
It's kind of strange that there was a competition between this movie and The Prestige in terms of which was the best film about magicians, and even though I've watched the Illusionist I still have to go with The Prestige as the best one for many reasons of course it was a Christopher Nolan film but the ending towards the film was what made the movie amazing on the grounds that it was a perfect twist that I never saw coming a mile away when it comes to watching The Prestige. Now, that doesn't mean that I still enjoy the Illusionist for many reasons it still holds up when it comes to great acting a decent storyline and a perfect antagonist in Rufus Sewell. I defiantly declare, Edward Norton is up there in the top ten best American actors especially when it comes to a movie like this he really does a great job playing a charismatic magician who's both a kind an decent person, then through the course of the movie becomes like this Chris Angel like magician doesn't really present his tricks or being a presenter he just brings people back from the dead and just call it good, either way Norton is defiantly a reliable actor who can pull of a starring role moreover does a great German/Hungarian accent and the same goes with Paul Giamatti although I'm not much of a big fan of his he does a good job in the supporting role moreover playing a kiss ass to Sewell's character, I'm not lying when I say that Jessica Biel's best movie was the Illusionist, and deep down it really is true moreover sure there are a lot of those actors/actresses like Biel who have like this one good movie under their belt and a boat load of other crap that they either where in or starred in or was most famous for aka 7th Heaven, in which they use that to get other work because they don't realize how expensive California is, nor do they want to improve on their acting skills, but deep down that just sounds lazy if that's the honest assumption I can muster moreover pretty sad if you ask me. But what do I know because let's be honest, she's married to the most famous N'SYNC singer of all time Justin Timberlake, so now she's provided at least and even if Jess and Timberlake get a divorce that's really on her unless Timberlake makes terrible choices. Rufus Sewell who plays the Crown Prince does a fantastic job playing the typical antagonist to Norton's character and even looking at Sewell's filmography he has the most interesting in terms of the early nineties playing the supportive/good guy in movies let’s not forget my favorite film of his Dark City, but through the 2000's era he transitioned to playing the antagonist with films like A Knights Tale and The Illusionist, moreover the man's from England and they make great memorable bad guys. The direction that Neil Bruger does in the movie is really fantastic in terms of visuals but also scenery too it's almost as if he was trying to create a homage to some of the early 1910's silent films along with some simple transitions as well as some quick edit tricks they would do in the silent film age, furthermore a lot of some of the tricks that Norton performs is strangely interesting and complex in which you don't know how he really does it but in all fairness it's also a fantasy story so we can at least point that out into perspective. I don't think it's better than the Prestige, but it doesn't mean I fully appreciate it and respect the movie for being as great of a movie to watch especially since it's been a while since I've sat down and watched the Illusionist. For a movie alone, I can understand why my aunt would dig this movie too, it has both romance with a kiss of cliché story about a poor kid who falls in love with a rich girl and society tells them they can't be together, for which really is good to have because when you blend both a magic tricks and stage performing you do great wonders along the way. I would highly recommend watching this from start to finish, and hopefully every mother who hasn't seen this might check this movie out and watch it as well.
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