Live from TIFF: Death Defying Acts
Death Defying Acts **1/2
Directed by Gillian Armstrong
97 Minutes
We've gotten quite a trend of magician themed movies in the last year-2006 was blessed with the great "The Illusionist" and the very good "The Prestige," and now we got a more low budget themed one, with a more historical basis, with the rather disappointing "Death Defying Acts." Gillian Armstrong was quite the entertainer during her before the film Q&A, but the movie was somewhat of a dud.
Telling a "what if?" story of Harry Houdini, we meet Houdini (played by Guy Pearce) right after the death of his mother. He is offering 10,000 dollars to anybody who can tell him what the last words his mother said was. He is convinced that the psychics so not even exist, and then changes his mind when he meets Mary McGregor, played by the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones. There is also his manager, Mr. Sugarman, played by Timothy Spall who has done stuff like this before-Spall is good in this film, but the part isn't as meaty as his better solo work in films like "All or Nothing" and "Pierrepointe-The Last Hangman." As Mary begins to fret with what she is going to say to Houdini, Houdini begins to develop a love for her.
I think my problem with "Death Defying Acts" was that there was no real movement in the story. I never felt like I was watching characters with conflict-the whole thing just seemed to happen without any kind of climatic moment. There are a few interesting points and twists that are briefly introduced-including one about an certain Oedipal conflict that seems to be discarded quickly-that could have turned this around in a more positive direction. All the acting is well done, including the young Saoirse Ronan as Zeta-Jones' daughter, and Armstrong does a good time with the period, considering that she had such a short time to shoot. And the cinematography is well done, by up and coming Haris Zambarloukos. But the fault is the screenplay, which starts on one level and stays there. There is never a moment in the whole film where it heightens in intensity and story-there isn't much of a story. It's a one note film, and by the end you just stop caring.
Directed by Gillian Armstrong
97 Minutes
We've gotten quite a trend of magician themed movies in the last year-2006 was blessed with the great "The Illusionist" and the very good "The Prestige," and now we got a more low budget themed one, with a more historical basis, with the rather disappointing "Death Defying Acts." Gillian Armstrong was quite the entertainer during her before the film Q&A, but the movie was somewhat of a dud.
Telling a "what if?" story of Harry Houdini, we meet Houdini (played by Guy Pearce) right after the death of his mother. He is offering 10,000 dollars to anybody who can tell him what the last words his mother said was. He is convinced that the psychics so not even exist, and then changes his mind when he meets Mary McGregor, played by the beautiful Catherine Zeta-Jones. There is also his manager, Mr. Sugarman, played by Timothy Spall who has done stuff like this before-Spall is good in this film, but the part isn't as meaty as his better solo work in films like "All or Nothing" and "Pierrepointe-The Last Hangman." As Mary begins to fret with what she is going to say to Houdini, Houdini begins to develop a love for her.
I think my problem with "Death Defying Acts" was that there was no real movement in the story. I never felt like I was watching characters with conflict-the whole thing just seemed to happen without any kind of climatic moment. There are a few interesting points and twists that are briefly introduced-including one about an certain Oedipal conflict that seems to be discarded quickly-that could have turned this around in a more positive direction. All the acting is well done, including the young Saoirse Ronan as Zeta-Jones' daughter, and Armstrong does a good time with the period, considering that she had such a short time to shoot. And the cinematography is well done, by up and coming Haris Zambarloukos. But the fault is the screenplay, which starts on one level and stays there. There is never a moment in the whole film where it heightens in intensity and story-there isn't much of a story. It's a one note film, and by the end you just stop caring.
posted by Eric at
5:21 AM
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