Christopher Nolan, in a short space of time, has built up a formidable reputation as a filmmaker of some note.
Memento was an audacious debut, and to follow it up with
Insomnia and
Batman Begins set him up as the most interesting, if not exciting, filmmaker to monitor, certainly with the current silence from David Fincher.
his adaptation of
The Prestige perpetuates all of this.
as you are well aware, i having nothing but admiration and praise for the novel, and i must confess i was dubious that a decent go at the film version of it would be plausible. there was a certain visual slant to many aspects of the novel (after all, it does centre around the world of performance), but all too many parts suggested that they could not be filmed.
Nolan has adjusted certain plot aspects to be different whilst remaining true to the tone, dropped certain plot threads and injected one or two dramatical elements not in the novel to achieve a coherent plot stream. this is done without diminishing from the adaptation of the novel and contributes to a highly successful translation.
whereas the film works and is an exceptional adaptation of the novel, the biggest magic trick on display is that this is pulled off whilst being at the mercy of some rather ham-fisted, going through the motions acting displays. i certainly understand a massive lack of any acting nominations - not one performance stands out as being anything beyond average. i cannot recall a time where i have seen a film with such plain performances from all the lead actors did not diminish the film. strange, true, and again all credit to Christopher Nolan.
i would urge you to read the novel first, which is something that i would always do. however, in its own right, there is nothing at all wrong or amiss with this film, and i would say see it as soon as possible. and watch it very, very closely indeed.......
be excellent to each other!!
