So you're saying the coin wasn't REALLY in my ear?: "The Prestige"

I'll shamelessly cite what one critic -- I think for The Washington Post -- said: If you see one movie about turn-of-the-century magicians in Europe, this is the one.

As I noted, "The Illusionist" was merely OK, which was something of a letdown after the rave reviews from my pal Louie. "The Prestige," however, was much more enjoyable. Let's put it this way: If the former was three-card monte, the latter was sawing a woman in half. Which one of those would you find on a street corner and which one pretty much has to be on the big stage?

(Side note: Before the lovefest begins, a note about the film's title. It kind of sucks. Sure, it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. But it just sounds awkward, and it also resulted in rampant mocking by me and My Forever Love. It started with her asking, "What is this movie again? 'The Protagonist?'" From there, we traded off. "What time does 'The Pretext' start?" "Two tickets for 'The Premise,' please." Fun stuff.)

Granted, I may have been predisposed to like "The Prestige." One, I like Christopher Nolan. Two, I like Christian Bale. Three, I drool over Scarlettttt Johanssssssson. No offense to Jessica Biel, who was a favorite of mine between the bikini scene in "Summer Catch" and butt-kicking in "Blade III." But I've fully gotten over my uncle's claims of Scarlett having a butthole mouth to find her rather saucy. And unlike Jessica, she fits this period piece perfectly.

That said, the ladies have a secondary role in this movie, which focuses on an intense rivalry between two magicians. Hugh Jackman ("Swordfish") is the flashier guy who better fits in high society. Bale ("Newsies") is the superior magician who's still rough around the edges. After they start out as sort-of friends, a tragedy tears them apart and sparks a rather cutthroat competition to become the absotively, posilutely bestest conjurer/illusionist/what-have-you around.

And it does get nasty, which makes "The Prestige" much more interesting than the other magic movie, in my mind. Bale and Jackman both get into their roles -- and adopt accents, to boot -- and the script throws us all sorts of twists and turns, tilting the story toward one guy, then the other, over the course of a couple of hours. (Yep, that's Nolan for you.) Along the way, we get insight into just what these guys are obsessed with -- sometimes the same thing, sometimes not -- and how each of them ultimately prove to be among the more deceptive and duplicitous people you can imagine.

The supporting cast is pretty good, too. Michael Caine has a big role as the mentor to the two magicians, and David Bowie(!) shows up as inventor/scientist Nikola Tesla. In addition to Johansson as a magician's assistant, Piper Perabo plays Jackman's wife, while Rebecca Hall is Bale's. We even get real-life trickster Ricky Jay -- you know, the cameraman from "Boogie Nights" -- in a small role. But of course.

Like I said, the big fun for me was watching the whole back-and-forth between these two magicians and their unhealthy interest in topping each other. Some dark stuff, to be sure, but I was mostly riveted and very curious to see who would win out. And to be honest, I wasn't going to leave until I knew for sure that there wasn't a fake bottom to that hat the rabbit came out of.