Directed By: Neil Burger

Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel

Written By: Neil Burger, Based On The Short Story "Eisenheim The Illusionist" By Steven Millhauser

Music By: Phillip Glass

I walked into The Illusionist not expecting much, mostly because it had Jessica Biel in a serious role, but I was pleasantly surprised by this period/fantasy piece. The film is from director Niel Burger and this is his sophomore directing attempt. The film is told through third person narrative from Paul Giamatti's character. The film opens as the Chief Inspector (Giamatti) is having a meeting with Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). The audience learns that Eisenheim The Illusionist (Edward Norton) is threatening the power of the Crown Prince and may uncover the secret plot to overthrow the King. So, at this point the Chief Inspector tells the story of Eisenheim and we return back to the meeting scene later in the film's third act. The story is Shakespearean in that Eisenheim falls in love with Sophie (Jessica Biel) who is a girl in a much higher social class than he is. After he is forbidden to see her, he departs on a journey where he learns the tricks of being a performer and takes the stage name of Eisenheim The Illusionist. The story has been done, but the film was well executed. The time and setting also bring a fresh approach to this tried and true love story, plus we have the theme of illusion. We quickly learn that things are not what they seem as the power craving Crown Prince plans to overthrow the King and forcefully marry Sophie in order to do so. The film's ending is quite predictable, or at least you know that there is going to be a twist ending even though you may not figure it out. There is also the fact that the narrative structure of the film was incredibly confusing. I didn't figure out that the story was told through Giamatti's character as a flashback until we came back to the present. It seems like a pretty standard linear story, but every now and then Giamatti's character will pop in and narrate for two minutes then disappear. It happens maybe 3 or 4 times in the entire movie, which makes it very confusing and awkward. However, the film is visually stunning. The sets and the costumes are particularly breathtaking and really captivate the audience. Look for a costume nomination come Oscar time, I'm calling it right now. * * *

Okay, plain and simple, Paul Giamatti outweighs all the other actors and steals the show with a brilliant performance. This is his best work since Sideways and he proves once again that he is an amazing character actor. Edward Norton is very good as well, but he is sort of drowned out by Giamatti. Unfortunately Jessica Biel still can't act and can't hold a Dutch accent if her life depended on it. Rufus Sewell is delightfully evil as always as the Crown Prince. Seems like he will be playing the bad guy for the rest of his life, but at least he's good at it. ---

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