The Illusionist

To celebrate our anniversary, we went into town for a movie and dinner. We saw The Illusionist and was very pleasantly surprised. A local newspaper movie critic said that Edward Norton's acting was wooden but this is far from reality. He was very subtle and very very good. The role had no part for overacting and Norton did the part perfectly. I was very pleased that they did a number of the classical Victorian Illusions including the Orange Tree of Jean Paul Robert-Houdin. The did these with no CGI involved -- these are honest stage illusions. There was a classical projection illusion towards the end of the film that was CG enhanced but this did not detract from the story. One quibble: There was a bit with a sword that is within the technology of that time but would have required extensive room preperation and in the storyline, Norton's character didn't have the time. Norton had help from college buddy Ricky Jay as well as Magic Consultant James Freedman The story line is wonderful as well -- a love triangle and murder mystery with a delicious twist at the end... Dinner was at On Rice, a wonderful Thai restaurant in Bellingham. A good time was had by all!