Cami and I saw The Prestige on Saturday and it’s still messing with my head. Good gravy, I love me some Christopher Nolan. I don’t know what is about his directing style, be he shoots sceens like I envision them in my head. I don’t know if that makes sense, but sometimes there are just directors that you vibe with. He has a big-budget sensibility, but it looks so effortless. Things aren’t overladen with CGI and he doesn’t look like he’s trying to force something visually. He’s the anit-Michael Bay. He shoots films like someone who is confident in their ability. I really dig his work.

Of course, half of the Nolan mystique is the material he chooses and The Prestige is pure gold. I loved the twists and turns. I loved that the showed you how some of the more simple tricks were done. It really sets you up for the larger tricks and leaves you scratching your head.

Like Memento, Nolan does a great job playing with time. Leaping backward and foreward through the narrative, he uses the diary entries of the two leads to tell the story. It takes a deft hand to tell the story almost entirely in flashback without the audience realizing it. The plot has twists and turns, but you never get lost. I don’t want to talk too much about the plot, though because it is such a joy to watch the movie unfold at it’s own pace.

I’ve been dying to talk to someone about this movie all weekend. After seeing it Saturday night, I had dreams about it in my sleep. I woke up on Sunday and it was still running through my mind. I keep thinking about it, even now. Very few movies these days keep their grip on me for this long. In fact, next to The Departed, I would say this was one of the most entertaining movies of the year.

The performances were great all around. I gotta give Hugh Jackman credit. Seeing him in movies like this do a good job of reminding me that this guy is way more talented than the X-Men films would lead you to believe.

That said, this isn’t Jackman’s movie. The Prestige belongs to Christian Bale. His brooding performance anchors the whole film.

It’s funny. When Cami and I came home that night, I turned on the TV and Batman Begins was on HBO. It really got me thinking about Bale and the roles he chooses. Between The Prestige, Batman Begins and American Psycho, there is a clever little commentary about the nature of duality. The person you are professionally and the person you are in your free time. It made me wonder if this wasn’t some kind of statement Bale was making in regard to the committment to his craft. Remember, this is the guy who dropped 60 pounds at the risk of his own health to play a deteriorating insomniac in The Machinist.

Actors don’t typically raise these kind of thoughts in my head. I watch their performances and say either "That was good" or "That was bad." I never think about the larger artisitc statement. At least not with most actors these days. I look at someone like Bale and think to myself "This is an actor that’s going to be around for a long time."

At any rate, those are my thoughts about The Prestige. I can’t really get into much more without ruining it for you. Maybe those of you who have seen the film can chat me up in The THorum and we can trade theories and ideas.

Oh, okay. I can say this. Even though today’s comic is (crudely) about Scarlett Johansson, hers was by far the least necessary performance in the film. You could have replaced her with any other actress and gotten the same result. Frankly, I thought Rebecca Hall’s performance as Bale’s jilted wife were far more affecting.

Sorry to end on such a down note, but it’s really the most I can talk about without ruining things! Would everyone please go see The Prestige so we can have an open and honest conversation about the film?!

Talk to you all later!