I went to see this film last night.I thought it was just wonderful.I thought the director did a good job of setting the tone,time,and place quickly,letting you know what to expect.You get a real sense of Vienna at around the turn of the century,or at least a conception of it.I loved some of the touches,like using an iris to fade in and out of scenes.
The performances,espescially by Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti were fine,and Jessica Biel is eye candy at its finest.
Cinematography of course was gorgeous.And the score by Phillip Glass!I havent come out of a film where I just had to purchase a score only sountrack since I saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure(wow,I cant believe I just referenced Pee-Wee-Herman and Paul Giamatti in the same post....).
If you love magic,and the magical,you could do far worse than to check out The Illusionist.
Jimmy

Jimmy,

what's the film about? Could you give me some more insight?

Honestly, I thought it was a murder-mystery/horror flick.

sounds like I'm way off...

We went in expecting a different movie (another magician movie with the guy who played Batman) andws initially apprehensive.

But, once the movie started it kept on building and building until I was glad it wasn't the one we originally intended to see.

I'm not a big Ed Norton fan but he was perfect for this role, almost as if he were born to do it. Paul giamatti plays the befuddled guy in the middle rols to perfection. Just the right amount of bravado, desperation and humor needed to carry off this role. Rufus Sewell plays a villian so henious that you want to hiss every time you see him and Biel is, well, just fine here. Beautiful as always.

Grerat mystery movie. Great magician movie. Great political movie. Builds perfectly and one of the greatest reveals I've ever seen.

I just can't believe this is this director's first movie! He's gonna be a biggie if he has more like this in him!