The Illusionist (Neil Burger, 2006)

Dir. Neil Burger
Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell

Writer-Director Neil Burger's The Illusionist is a film made with remarkable skill. The technical aspects are all first-rate and the idea is intriguing enough to draw initial interest. He's cast two of the finest actors working today in Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. Unfortunately, The Illusionist never comes together as a completely entertaining story. Despite all of the considerable strengths, the film fails with several poor choices in storytelling structure and a serious error in casting.

The Illusionist follows the story of Eisenheim (Edward Norton), a magician from a lower class standing who is in love with his childhood sweetheart Sophie (Jessica Biel). They are forbidden to see one another because of the disparities in their families social standing. Much later when Eisenheim begins making the rounds in Vienna as a renowned performer, he runs into Sophie again, who is now a Duchess and destined to marry the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Eisenheim begins using his abilities to try and win Sophie’s heart, but faces trouble from Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti), who closely watches his actions.

The first mistake made by Neil Burger is choosing to tell the story with a framing device. The film begins with Uhl arresting Eisenheim and then explaining to the Prince what happened. As he tells the story to the Prince, we flash back and witness Eisenheim's childhood and all the events that led up to the arrest. The problem with this is that Uhl is not privy to many of the events that we see throughout the film. Certainly, it's possible that Burger is just switching perspective on such moments and filling in the gaps, but his ability to do this is all the more reason why the framing device was unnecessary.

The decision to focus on the romance is extremely problematic because of the serious mistake in casting Jessica Biel. As played by Biel, Sophie is a blank slate and not worth all the fuss Eisenheim creates over her. This is partially a problem with the writing, as they never fully flesh out the character or give her enough wit to make us think that she's more than just a pretty face. However, Biel can't walk away unscathed. Her flat line delivery at almost every point destroys many of the film's most interesting scenes.

The scenes that really sparkle are the ones involving Eisenheim and Uhl. The characters are so interesting and played by such exceptionally talented actors that Burger is inspired to take things a step deeper than he is at other spots in the film. There is a splendid little moment where Uhl gives Eisenheim a warning while at the same time subtly hinting that he understands more than expected. Unfortunately, there aren't nearly enough of these scenes as Burger wastes time with the weak romance at the center.

Unfortunately, the film wastes some great technical work. Burger is a gifted technical director, and knows how to stage scenes with precision. The effects are top notch, perfectly finding a balance between being captivating and refusing to be too showy. Cinematographer Dick Pope does a good job capturing the dark and mysterious world of magic, but the dreamy glare he provides for the ending is a serious error. The legendary Phillip Glass provides a terrific score, which wonderfully captures the essence of intrigue and deception in Eisenheim’s illusions. All of this makes the film far more bearable than it would have been otherwise.

As the film approaches the ending, it becomes clear that Burger thinks he's extremely clever. Eisenheim is handed a clue, and there is a flashback to several scenes from earlier in the film as he begins to figure things out. This is Burger's way of showing the audience how he pulled off such an amazing trick. The problem is that Burger tipped his hand with the nature of the events that take place in the 3rd act. What could have been a nice surprise turns out to be another series of pedestrian events leading to a decidedly hollow conclusion.

Grade: C+

Dandelion (Mark Milgard, 2005)

Dir. Mark Milgard
Starring Vincent Kartheiser, Taryn Manning, Arliss Howard, Mare Winningham

Mark Milgard’s Dandelion is a confused mess of a film. It wants to do several things at once, but can’t seem to figure out which to focus on. There is the typical disaffected teen romance that the film is sold on. There is also the father-son morality play the filmmakers want to explore. Finally, we have a story with a mother and father stuck in a passionless marriage. With so many threads going on and a running time of only 93 minutes, Milgard is unable to make any of his stories dramatically compelling and the entire film suffers as a result.

Mason Mullich (Vincent Kartheiser) is a lonely teenager living in an empty town with nothing to do. His parents’ marriage is falling apart but neither of them seems to realize it. Danny (Taryn Manning) is his new neighbor with a mysterious past. Her initial scene is so lazy and clichéd that it was reminiscent of Jen’s first arrival in Dawson’s Creek. That’s not a very good sign for a movie that takes itself seriously. Mason and Danny begin to fall for each other, but the relationship gets sidetracked due to issues with his misguided father.

Dandelion struggles with the lack of a coherent vision. Milgard tries to make a point about how his teen characters are cut off from the real world, stuck in a boring town. In making his point, we get plenty of shots of the vast empty fields and deserted streets that surround the town. Unfortunately, his talented cinematographer seems a little too eager in showing off how beautiful he can shoot the landscape. Everything is focused with a bright, sunny glare that the town ends up looking like the most beautiful and pleasant place to live. It’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to leave.

The film takes several shots at the people that inhabit small towns. Mason’s father has a pending city council election, but the campaign signs designed by a local print shop accidentally misspell his name. Mason’s father goes into a rage and amazingly the film seems to take his side. The store clerk is treated as a dimwitted idiot (like all small town folk, right?), with a ridiculously misguided comment about offering a price reduction. There is nary a secondary character in the small town portrayed with any degree of empathy.

There is a bizarre narrative structure at play here. Just when the film begins developing the romance between Mason and Danny, a major twist takes place that causes the film to advance two years in the future. The romance is put on hold while Milgard decides to try out his secondary story about the relationship between father and son, and how that is strained by an excruciating moral decision made by Mason. Not a bad idea on its own, but the film doesn’t have enough time to spend on this section, which only distracts from the central romance. Both stories have the potential to be arresting, but the structure of the film prevents either of them from becoming emotionally relevant.

Dandelion is not a technically poor film. Tim Orr is one of the most talented cinematographers in independent films, having previously done superb work on George Washington and All the Real Girls. The ensemble cast is mostly solid. You get the sense that really understood their characters, and with better writing could have done a terrific job. There is an especially nice supporting performance from Mare Winningham as Mason’s mother. She has one incredible scene when she confronts her husband, suggesting yet another underdeveloped story thread that Milgard wanted to explore.

Ultimately, it is the thematic structure that ruins Dandelion. No matter how stupid they make the locals, or how deserted they make the town look, it stills seems like a beautiful place to live. The film also makes several points about how casual drug and gun use is in this town, which seems to be an odd idea. At one point, one of the characters leaves town on a train, presumably hoping for a better life in a big city. If they’re expecting the big city to be devoid of guns, drugs, and idiotic store clerks then they certainly have a surprise coming.

Grade: C-