Movie Review: The Illusionist

Ah, the start of Oscar season. An oppurtunity for everyone and their brother and sister (Ed Norton, Paul Giamatti....Jessica Biel?) to put on their properest "I'm an old-fashioned Brit/German hybrid whose accent keeps shifting for no reason" voices and go at the period tale set in fin de siecle Vienna.
The good news? It works. With the exception of an ending sequence we found totally derivative not only as a plot point but in how it was presented and shot, the movie's fanstic: pleasantly creepy in an intellectual kind of way and very engaging. Norton, sporting a devilish black beard, finally finds a followup to Tyler Durden--another character who isn't what he seems...maybe. And, jokes aside, Jessica Biel, whose girl-next-door prettiness perfectly fits her role (as opposed to the striking looks of someone like Angelina Jolie), can actually act, maybe. She isn't given a whole lot to do, but what there is is performed simply, with no scenery chewing inbetween the shifting accents. And one moment--in which she is going to say something but changes her mind and says something else--is perfectly performed: the audience gets the exact sense of what she meant to say.
Paul Giamatti bugs us, but here he atones somewhat for the misstep that was Lady In The Water with a focused, thoughtful performance.

Of course, there are problems. That ending is one, the accents are a small other one. We found the obvious cheapness of some of the costumes (see: ladies gowns) somewhat obnoxious for a period piece with this kind of cast. But the ending doesn't go on very long (only about 3-4 minutes at the end) and before that, you're free to enjoy gorgeous camera-work, artistic without being in-your-face. Look for this one to win lighting-related awards all over. But the best part is the music, by real-live composer Philip Glass, who abandons his usual trippy style for atmospherically dark compositions that all but take over the movie: very few moments have no music, and the concordance of music and story is superb--one of the best we recall seeing.
As for the plot? The greatest trick Eisenehim the Illusionist ever pulled was, fittingly, convincing the world that he didn't exist.

Grade: A -

(what should we review next? Anything in theaters is fair game. Tell us!)