There are plenty of movies about two guys trying to outdo one another, but none quite like “The Prestige” (2006). Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play a pair of magicians who duel to the bitter end. And I do mean bitter. And I do mean end. The first half is tedious and non-sequential, which is, as usual, more work than art (something filmmakers refuse to understand). Once the time sequence gets a little straighter, the pace picks up. False climaxes are layered with macabre worthy of Poe. And then you get blindsided with the oldest trick in the storyteller’s book.
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Is it possible to give an over-the-top performance when your character is a male model? What about a fashion designer? Or a talent agent? There’s so much scenery chewing going on in “Zoolander” (2001) you almost become numb to it and actually pay attention to the plot. Almost. To say it’s stupid is to say grass is green. But, you ask, what about crabgrass? It’s brownish. And what about that weird albino grass that grows under the kiddie pool when you leave it in the front yard for too long? To that, I say “Zoolander” is right up your alley.
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