Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Better than you.

My favorite thing about Woody Allen movies is hearing the actors speak the words. It's always with a sense of adoration, and there are usually shades of performers to speak these words in the past. Allen's scripts are performed, no matter the quality, with gratitude. Such is most definitely the case with this - Vicky Cristina Barcelona. If you're intrigued by the title, it's simple enough. About as simple as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In that, there's a massacre committed with a chain saw in Texas. In this, Vicky and Cristina go to Barcelona. However, there is a bit of a deeper meaning. 

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The Prestige

OH, GOOD FOR YOU.

The Prestige in only the third act. At least that's what we're told by Michael Caine in his opening monologue. It's more a set of instructions for the film, we'll discover, but that's a later point. Every magic trick comes in three parts. One - the pledge: in which you give the audience something real to hold onto. Two - the turn: in which you take that something and turn into something impossible, the part where the magic lies. Three - the prestige: in which everything comes back to normal, and the audience (hopefully) cheers. Usually, magic is all about sleight of hand and misdirection. Christopher Nolan is great at that; recall the difficult but astonishing Memento. There's a pledge, a turn, and a prestige in that. But, here, in The Prestige, we live in the turn, while the pledge is revealed to us in flashbacks, and then the prestige isn't what the prestige is supposed to be, but rather something that cheats and gives an easy out. 

Still, though, the pledge and the turn make the film exciting and the thriller it should be. Don't be fooled - this film isn't strictly about magicians. It's a cat-and-mouse game about two men obsessed with one-upping each other and destroying both of themselves in the process. 

More after the cut--