Oops, it seems WTF has once again been distracted by the drudgery of daily life -- the dopey new people next door, the tedium of work-related travel, not to mention work itself -- but that doesn't mean we haven't been seeing those movies. One movie that's worth driving to the mall for is THE ILLUSIONIST, a moody, well-acted mystery romance involving a magician (Edward Norton), a dogged detective (Paul Giamatti), a lovely Duchess (Jennifer Biel), and a prince of the Hapsburg empire. The romance here...
... is sweet, the magic intriguing, the duchess of course innocent and noble, and the Prince suitably dark and selfish. The plot is basically this: because the Duchess is promised to the Prince in a merger of royal famiies, it will take some real magic for her to end up with her true love. Paul Giamatti is great in his role as a detective loyal to the Prince but unable to resist the lure of the magician -- and solving a riddle. After this, I can wipe my mind clean of his annoying character in SIDEWAYS and whatever he did in LADY IN THE WATER. You can't go wrong with Edward Norton, and I found myself asking why we don't see more of him, then realizing it's probably because there's so much c-r-a-p being made that he'd rather skip. And Jessica Biel will be a welcome revelation if you remember her from 7th Heaven (and Maxim magazine) or not at all. She brings a freshness and youthful innocence to Duchess Sophie that serves as the source of light in this good little film. Finally, the Viennese atmospherics (all Jugendstil and loden cloth) may inspire you to check out the breathtakingly beautiful Klimt on display at New York's Neue Galerie (if so, don't fight the urge - it's worth the trip). Oh, and for the girl sitting next to Nancy in the theater, yep, Vienna is in Austria, in Europe. Get a map!
Comments (1)
Write on, Babe in the Multiplex!
Yes indeed, The Illusionist is a very well told tale about love conquering all.
If you ever go to Vienna and visit the places where the Hapsburgs lived, you can get the overwhelming sense of how royalty lived off the backs of the poor. It's no stretch, then, to consider a Crown Prince who would do the things that Leopold did...
Yes, Edward Norton is the real thing, a truly gifted actor who inhabits his roles thoroughly. He can carry a movie and often does.
Posted by Louis R | September 26, 2006 6:58 AM
Posted on September 26, 2006 06:58