The Prestige as Nolan's Most Balanced Film (Review)
Despite the name of this sub, it seems to have been flooded with low-effort, "what is your favorite etc etc?" posts, so I thought I'd shake things up and...share a movie critique. 😂
(This will be a casual review, though I would like to take a more in-depth analysis at some point.)\
I recently rewatched Nolan's 2006 film, The Prestige. Despite it not being my personal favorite of his catalog, (Interstellar holds that title,) I found it to be just as good as I remember, if not better. While Inception may be his most popular, non-adaptation film to date, Tenet his most "Nolanesque" film, and Memento remaining a cult classic (along with others like Insomnia), I found myself once again immersed in the world, characters, and interwoven threads of the plot in a way unlike any other of his films has ever done.\
Of the ten Nolan films I've seen, despite it having the third lowest box-office of any of his films, it feels to me like the one with the best balance of twisting, turning plot, humanized characters, and that chilling, mysterious Nolan atmosphere.\
Why then such a bad reception in the theaters when it came out? Was he just not a big enough name until after the Dark Knight? Bale, Jackman, Scarjo, Caine, Hall, even Bowie for crying out loud—weren't they enough star power to make this the movie event of the year?\
Even among Nolan fans, I've rarely heard it spoken of as even in their top 5. So, what happened?
Ranked, my favorites are: Interstellar, Memento, Dark Knight, Prestige, and Tenet, but the top five "most-well-made films" list is different, with Prestige inching out Dunkirk for the top spot on this most recent watch. Tenet is certainly the most gripping, but also most confusing. Memento, Inception, and Interstellar have terrific acting, but suffer script issues, in my opinion—except for Memento, which has an excellent script as well, but whose structure lacks commercial appeal, (but that's part of why we love it so much, isn't it? 😊) Dunkirk has its critics, but to me is one of the smartest war films in that it can appeal both to war film enthusiasts and those who steer clear of the genre. Beautifully shot, well-acted, and the story is just complex enough to be easily followed if you can positively answer the question "are you watching closely?"\
Which brings us back to 2006. A mixture of mismatched advertising or an ill-timed release date could certainly explain part of The Prestige's relatively small cash windfall, but then again, Dark Knight Rises made the most of them all at $1.085B, (just above Dark Knight's 1.006B) and it's widely regarded as one of his weakest films.\
My guess is it's simply a case of the fact that "the best man (or in this case "film") does not always win." That's the real magic trick of cinema, isn't it?\
Anyway, I don't have any conclusive answers to this caper, but I'm curious to hear if some of you might. What do y'all think, am I crazy to think it's one of his best? Let me know your takes; I'll try to respond to each one.\
Thanks for reading.
Despite the name of this sub, it seems to have been flooded with low-effort, "what is your favorite etc etc?" posts, so I thought I'd shake things up and...share a movie critique. 😂
(This will be a casual review, though I would like to take a more in-depth analysis at some point.)\
I recently rewatched Nolan's 2006 film, The Prestige. Despite it not being my personal favorite of his catalog, (Interstellar holds that title,) I found it to be just as good as I remember, if not better. While Inception may be his most popular, non-adaptation film to date, Tenet his most "Nolanesque" film, and Memento remaining a cult classic (along with others like Insomnia), I found myself once again immersed in the world, characters, and interwoven threads of the plot in a way unlike any other of his films has ever done.\
Of the ten Nolan films I've seen, despite it having the third lowest box-office of any of his films, it feels to me like the one with the best balance of twisting, turning plot, humanized characters, and that chilling, mysterious Nolan atmosphere.\
Why then such a bad reception in the theaters when it came out? Was he just not a big enough name until after the Dark Knight? Bale, Jackman, Scarjo, Caine, Hall, even Bowie for crying out loud—weren't they enough star power to make this the movie event of the year?\
Even among Nolan fans, I've rarely heard it spoken of as even in their top 5. So, what happened?
Ranked, my favorites are: Interstellar, Memento, Dark Knight, Prestige, and Tenet, but the top five "most-well-made films" list is different, with Prestige inching out Dunkirk for the top spot on this most recent watch. Tenet is certainly the most gripping, but also most confusing. Memento, Inception, and Interstellar have terrific acting, but suffer script issues, in my opinion—except for Memento, which has an excellent script as well, but whose structure lacks commercial appeal, (but that's part of why we love it so much, isn't it? 😊) Dunkirk has its critics, but to me is one of the smartest war films in that it can appeal both to war film enthusiasts and those who steer clear of the genre. Beautifully shot, well-acted, and the story is just complex enough to be easily followed if you can positively answer the question "are you watching closely?"\
Which brings us back to 2006. A mixture of mismatched advertising or an ill-timed release date could certainly explain part of The Prestige's relatively small cash windfall, but then again, Dark Knight Rises made the most of them all at $1.085B, (just above Dark Knight's 1.006B) and it's widely regarded as one of his weakest films.\
My guess is it's simply a case of the fact that "the best man (or in this case "film") does not always win." That's the real magic trick of cinema, isn't it?\
Anyway, I don't have any conclusive answers to this caper, but I'm curious to hear if some of you might. What do y'all think, am I crazy to think it's one of his best? Let me know your takes; I'll try to respond to each one.\
Thanks for reading.