Now You See Me, Now You . . . Still See Me
June 24, 2008
Death Defying Acts is a feature length film starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce. It was directed by Gillian Armstrong and set in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. The film is about the acclaimed escape artist Harry Houdini. It revolves around Houdini’s search to find a psychic that will help him communicate with his deceased mother. The film is an interesting look at this world famous character; complete with some true facts, a love story, and of course plenty of fantastic tricks.
I liked this movie but wasn’t particularly blown away by it. The actors were all superb. They brought their characters to life for the audience and held everyone’s attention even when the plot seemed to drag. The cinematography was very well done especially using some of the major landmarks in Edinburgh as a back drop for the film. The story line itself left me a little unsatisfied. I would have liked to have seen a little more action, or mysticism, or suspense, or anything that would have done more to draw me into the film. What happened was fairly predictable and didn’t manage to excite the imagination very much. It was merely adequate. I will give Death Defying Acts three and a half stars out of five. The movie is worth watching but it should be low on the priority list.
