Eugene Weekly : Movie Review : 09.07.06

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Smoke and Mirrors

The Illusionist casts a weak spell.

BY MOLLY TEMPLETON

THE ILLUSIONIST: Directed by Neil Burger. Screenplay by Neil Burger, based on the short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist" by Steven Millhauser. Cinematography, Dick Pope. Music, Philip Glass. Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel and Rufus Sewell. Yari Film Group, 2006. PG-13. 109 minutes.

Sophie (Jessica Biel) falls under Eisenheim's (Edward Norton) spell during a performance.

Lovely magic tricks aside, The Illusionist is at heart a familiar tale of against-the-odds romance, set in turn-of-the-19th-century Vienna for no apparent reason other than that it sounds neat (Prague stood in for filming). The magician Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is being investigated by Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) at the request of Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who doesn't trust Eisenheim, largely because Leopold can't figure out how the illusionist does his tricks. Uhl does as he's told, evincing as much backbone as a sock puppet and about as much character. He tells Eisenheim he's something of an amateur conjurer, but the only evidence to back up this claim is Uhl's interest in Eisenheim's astonishing orange tree trick.

The other thorn in the crown prince's side is that his intended, the Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel), has a past with the magician — and appears to be looking to have a future as well. And herein lies one of The Illusionist's distracting missteps: In fuzzy, soft flashbacks, we see Sophie and Eisenheim as adolescents, torn apart by Sophie's guardians because of their difference in class. They are clearly no more than a few years apart in age. Yet somehow, in the film's present, they have grown into Edward Norton and Jessica Biel, who have a 13-year gap between them.

Some might argue that this is a film about magic and illusion, and such literal complaints are out of place. Which leads right up to The Illusionist's major disconnect: Though Eisenheim's performances are gracefully elegant, the film itself is less than magical. The plot's inconsistencies are distracting, the romance unconvincing, the performances merely adequate (with the exception of the feisty Rufus Sewell, who has yet to capitalize fully on the promise he showed in 1998's Dark City). Accepting a slightly hammy performance from Giamatti is one thing, but Edward Norton has generally been off his game for too long (allowing that he may be spectacular in Down in the Valley, which has yet to play in Eugene). Norton seems to truly inhabit Eisenheim only when the magician is on stage, at which point the simple fact that the actor learned the sleight-of-hand tricks himself make the performance more interesting. When he looks most bereft, Norton has begun to resemble a younger, slimmer Sean Penn, all tired eyes, tight mouth and hair that seems to stand higher on end the lower his shoulders slump.

To go into detail about The Illusionist's second half would spoil what fun there is to be had, plotwise. Director Burger (Interview With the Assassin), who adapted The Illusionist from a short story by Steven Millhauser, seems to have forgotten that detail is key when you're setting up a tricky revelation. Like a good magic trick, a good twist requires a strong setup, one that can hold up under viewer scrutiny without giving itself away early. The Illusionist drops few hints, instead asking that we believe in a finale that takes place largely in one character's head, as he imagines the earlier, offscreen actions of the others.

Still, in these late-summer cinema doldrums, The Illusionist is likely one of the better things out there. It's lush, warmly lit and at times beautifully filmed; Jessica Biel is less out of place than expected; there are scenes, mostly between Giamatti and Norton, when the film sparks momentarily, offering a glimpse of what a stronger story might have let these actors do. But sloppy plotting and an apparent disinterest in larger questions about magic and power make the film more a fancy bit of trickery than a truly engrossing illusion.