Are you watching closely?

They ask you this question at the beginning of the movie. And going through the movie, you may think you are. But you are not. Really you aren't. All the answers are in front of you the whole time. You just have to see them.

Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are rival magicians who are on a continuous quest for revenge against each other. After Borden accidentally kills Angier's wife, Angier shoots off two of Borden's fingers when he tries to catch a bullet. New magic tricks are invented to try to one up the other, culminating in Borden's "masterpiece," the Transported Man, in which he enters one door and comes out across the stage. Angier becomes obsessed with beating this trick, and goes to terrible lengths to do so. In the end, we discover the horrible price both men paid for their hatred of each other. As Borden is fond of saying, magic is about sacrifice. What will you pay for a good trick?

When I first saw advertisements for this movie, I joked that it starred the Batman Begins Players Plus Wolverine. And it does. However, the acting is so incredible in this movie that you forget all about past roles. Really. I have a new respect for Hugh Jackman in particular for his role in this movie.

Even the side roles are well played. David Bowie plays the role of Nikola Tesla, and comes across very believable. This fact is especially true when you consider the almost sci-fi twist that comes late in the movie. That you can suspend your disbelief when such things come to light is amazing.

The Prestige can be a little hard to follow right out of the gate. It jumps from present to past to more past to even more past to more past to even more past to present frequently, all with voiceovers from the characters, one is reading the other's journal, while the other reads his journal about him reading the other. You probably didn't get that, and you may get confused at the beginning, but you do get into the flow of the jumps as it goes along. It is kind of like Memento in that respect; that is, once you get into the flow of the jumps, it all seems rather natural.

I realize I'm being quite vague, but really it is hard to review a movie that I would rather you watch than have me tell you about. I will say this, though. This is now one of my favorite movies of all time. I hate a lot of movies, so I hope this tells you how good it is.

When you are done watching this movie, you will want to watch it again. I guarantee it. When you know the secret, you'll realize that you weren't watching closely enough. Just watch it and enjoy.

Highest Recommendation.

StretPharmacist is a lot like the Undertaker:  A gimmick that should have never gotten over, but was taken to unbelievable heights.  Also, he is constantly injured.