Page 3 of 3
THE PRESTIGE In this twisty thriller about the rivalry between two tortured magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale), writer-director Christopher Nolan has crafted an exemplary drama that explores his usual recurrent themes while serving up a cracking good mystery yarn. In Memento and Batman Begins, Nolan took the time to painstakingly explore issues of identity; in this regard, he recalls David Cronenberg, who frequently returns to the topic of competing identities. Nolan is the more guardedly optimistic of the pair, believing that people have as much chance of improving themselves as they do debasing themselves. It's this moral uncertainty that provides The Prestige with most of its power, since it allows the characters to evolve in intriguing ways. The movie isn't simplistic enough to pit a "good" magician against an "evil" one; instead, it recognizes the duality of each man's nature, a theme that eventually expands to a startling degree. It can be argued that the story becomes too fantastical for its own good -- it's more compelling when it's rooted in reality rather than when it enters the realm of science fiction -- but except for a nagging final shot, the filmmakers at least take care to cover all their narrative bases with acceptable explanations and believable character arcs. ***1/2
SHORTBUS A multi-layered film featuring a multi-character ensemble, Shortbus pushes the envelope of what's allowed on screen further than just about any other non-porn flick that comes to mind. But the result isn't distasteful or juvenile; instead, it's a celebration of sex that, in turn, morphs into a celebration of those most inalienable of American rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In focusing on a handful of New York residents struggling with relationship woes, writer-director John Cameron Mitchell isn't so Pollyanna that he's suggesting everyone's difficulties will be solved by one good bout of sexual acrobatics -- indeed, many of the characters' problems and hang-ups are directly hardwired into their own opinions on the subject. But what makes Shortbus unusual for an American movie is that it isn't frightened of sex, it doesn't reduce the act to insensitive frat boy gyrations, and it doesn't employ it as a bludgeoning weapon. As a movie, Shortbus is a turn-on, but not in the sense readers might imagine. The picture isn't physically stimulating so much as it's mentally and emotionally arousing -- it considers the brain and the heart the true erogenous zones, a viewpoint that ultimately turns out to be the movie's most startling declaration. ***1/2
OPENS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3:
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian.
FLUSHED AWAY: Animated; voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet.
THE QUEEN: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen.
THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE: Tim Allen, Martin Short.
Mobile
