The Illusionist was directed by Neil Burger and stars some great actors Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, and Rufus Sewell just to name a few; which is a movie I really enjoy and wanted to review however it isn’t a horror film so when I was talking to Baron about it, he said he would allow me to write it because of the section on the site called “Other Worldly Cinema” so here it is. The film was released in 2006 in theaters by Freestyle Releasing, but I didn’t see it until years later on one of the cable-tv networks and recorded it on my DVR, seen it a few times and hence my love affair with it.

The movie starts with Eisenheim (Norton), the illusionist, at one of his shows doing a controversial performance and near the end the Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti) goes to the stage and orders the rest of his police up to arrest him. The film then switches to Uhl walking in a hallway full of moose heads to Crown Prince Leopald’s sanctuary who is very unhappy with Eisenheim and doesn’t understand why the police won’t do something about it. Uhl then starts telling him about The Illusionist’s childhood, it was from there that’s where the movie really begins. Young Eisenheim knows he’s different and can do magic and meets a girl named Sophie whose parents are well connected and he’s just a servant’s son. Well, the two are forbidden to see each other and are separated. The film jumps many years later as Eisenheim is now an adult and has popular shows as an illusionist; the amazement of performances attracts the attention of the Crown Prince (Sewell), who arrives with fiancé, the now adult Sophie (Biel) and when he hears her name, he realizes it’s his long-lost love. Afterward, they meet in secret and make a plan to find a way to stay together, however, I don’t want to go into too much detail as it would ruin the film. All I can see it’s wonderful how it was done, and you don’t see it until the very end of the film. One of my friends who always knows from nearly the start of film how it’s all going to end was even surprised at this one.

I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a mystery and magic. It’s thoroughly entertaining and you would never get bored. I’ve even showed it to my teenage niece & nephew who also liked it and of course the ending they couldn’t stop talking about. So, if you see it on Starz, HBO, or any other channel I recommend you see or record it to watch later.

TAGLINE:

• Nothing is what it seems

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443543/

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

3C Rating: 7.5/10