The Illusionist

Say, it’s Rufus Sewell as some shady dude in a period-piece melodrama. You don’t see that every day … probably because they can’t make the damned things fast enough. This week, he’s a craven crown prince in turn-of-the-century (the 20th century) Vienna, and he’s a bit of the jealous type caught in a triangle with a beloved-by-the-masses duchess (umm … Jessica Biel … right) and an enigmatic and preternaturally talented magician (Edward Norton). All it takes to eliminate the competition is to set a dogged Chief Inspector (Paul Giamatti) on the trickster’s tail to dig up some dirt and hopefully, for the prince, he gets an unimpeded shot at the seat next to the soft-focus-lit Biel. And then, things get complicated. Sure, it’s slavishly lavish in the production-values sort of way, but it’s not all that compelling narrative-wise, with some doozies let slip in the continuity department. The actors act with competence, but never distract from the fact that they’re actors. Acting. What to do? Throw in a silly twist just to spice things up and make things look clever!