Movie: The Illusionist

I was entranced by this film set in Vienna at the turn of the last century, where a childhood friendship between a cabinetmaker's son (Edward Norton) and a duchess (Jessica Biel) is reawakened in later life when he returns as a master illusionist. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of a planned coup within the imperial family, into which the duchess is about to be married. I've always loved Edward Norton for his intensity and for his chameleon quality in a role, but up to now I've thought of his range more in the scrappy, wiry, blue-collar or less-than-legal vein. As an intelligent, elegant, romantic hero? Oh my god, the man is just plain HOT and I never knew it! Okay, part of me says there has to be shoe-lifts involved, but everything about his physical portrayal has this hint of restraint such that you understand that the illusionist Eisenheim's whole life is about knowing secrets that others do not. His showmanship is artistic rather than crass; he weaves the legerdemain with the grace of a dancer, and I'd never had reason to notice before that his hands are absolutely beautiful. (I'm way into hands)

Paul Giamatti's considerable chops are not used to any new capacity in his role as a police inspector aspiring to be Vienna's mayor under the new regime, but we get his trademark eyebrow-twisting concentration and his wide laugh when all is eventually illuminated. And I have to admit that when put together with real actors, even Biel delivered a passable performance that some other young scrawny ingenue would not have carried as believably as her healthy, real-woman quality. The movie is photographed beautifully with a palette of color and light that maintains that sense of distance and time suspended. I was so charmed by the story that it had to lead me into the reveal... and then I was doubly charmed for realizing the spell I'd been placed under.

We were in the theatre with a bunch of (drunk?) louts who apparently thought it was a comedy and guffawed throughout, so I'll be going back to get the lines I missed to audience misbehavior. But ultimately it's one for the DVD shelf, because I'll need private time and a pause button............