..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

The Illusionist

The Illusionist is a long-gestating project that Bob Yari ended up backing with Michael London as one of the three producers. Edward Norton plays the humorless Illusionist. Paul Giamatti plays the not-as-funny-as-Giamatti-was-clearly-ready-to-make-him police chief who is under the thumb of the scenery licking, bulgy-eyed Rufus Sewell. And what brings them all together is the lovely Jessica Biel, whose creamy skin and bee-sting lips offset her modern woman vibe... along with some very... slow... dialogue... readings...

Unfortunately, the nice looking film, shot in Prague for 1900 Vienna, never digs deep into the passion. And for me, the tension of the narrative was shot dead when I realized exactly what would happen in the rest of the film sometime in the first hour. And indeed... every single expectation was met. Sad.

Worse, Giamatti was often reduced to mugging to make up for the lame dialogue. The sexy Biel was not really allowed to be that sexy. And Edward Norton looked more constipated than intense much of the time. (And where did he get that hair mousse in 1900 Vienna? He made Conan O'Brien's hair look subtle.)

It's not a horrible movie. But it's not a good movie. It's a decent made-for-Showtime flick. But little more than that. Notably, Ed Norton was not at the premiere and his absence was not spoken about.

- David Poland