The Illusionist

Politics: Yawn. Romance: Eh, not so much. Costume drama: Ho-hum. Magic: Ok, I’m listening. Murder, mayhem and mystery… now you’ve got me!

The Illusionist encompasses all those elements and more, and it does them very, very well. Hats off (and rabbits in the hat) to director Neil Burger for his absorbing and intriguing story of supernatural suspense.

Edward Norton is the celebrated illusionist, Eisenheim. It’s Vienna at the turn of the  20th century and no one has a show like the magnificent Eisenheim – his spells, tricks and enchantments are so much the toast of the town that he is soon asked to put on a command performance at the palace of Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). It is through this association that Eisenheim is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, Sophie (Jessica Beil). Duchess Sophie von Teschen is now Leopold’s fiancée and things soon get complicated. Add to that a brutal murder and the presence of dogged police inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) and you’re in for a good time.

Classy and mesmerizing (and yes, at times too languid), The Illusionist is a striking and memorable film – due in large part surely to its stellar cast. Every time I see a new Giamatti performance, I think, “That’s his best work, ever.” He makes what could be a stereotypical “Javert” role and handcrafts into something wholly dimensional and uniquely his. Norton embodies the sometimes taciturn but always eloquently enigmatic magic man from his polished black shoes to his full, glossy goatee. And speaking of beards, Sewell gives James Brolin a run for his money in the chin hair department as Leopold, a desperately ambitious, cruel and calculating royal heir. Jessica Biel, she of Blade: Trinity and Stealth, is surprisingly robust and believable as the spirited nineteenth century lady of privilege.

Sumptuous and gorgeous, The Illusionist makes the most of its locations (grassy fields, cold rivers, elaborate opera house facades) and sets (dingy country abodes, the magician’s practice room, haystrewn barns) without turning them into showplaces. The story and the characters are what The Illusionist is all about and that’s what stays center stage.

Burger keeps a few cards up his sleeves as the story unfolds, and when all is said and done we never really know if Eisenheim is conjuring the dead and communing with the spirits… or not. But it’s the mystery in the magic that we really love, so in the end we really don’t mind a little sleight of hand.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson, 07/31/06