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Death Defying Acts (2007)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5/10
Reviews Counted: 36
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 20

Pretty but dull, with unconvincing turns from Zeta-Jones and Pearce. If you want a period magician movie, seek out The Prestige or The Illusionist instead.

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 4

Pretty but dull, with unconvincing turns from Zeta-Jones and Pearce. If you want a period magician movie, seek out The Prestige or The Illusionist instead.

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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 3,891

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Movie Info

My Brilliant Career and Oscar and Lucinda director Gillian Armstrong explores the final feat of the greatest illusionist ever to deceive a live audience in this docudrama concerning Harry Houdini's obsessive quest to find proof of an afterlife. The year is 1926, and Houdini (Guy Pearce) is an international superstar. Not only does the illusionist's otherworldly ability to bend reality hold audiences completely enthralled, but his easy charm finds him winning the hearts of his growing legion of

PG, 1 hr. 36 min.

Drama, Romance, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Gillian Armstrong

Written By: Tony Grisoni, Brian Ward

In Theaters: Jul 11, 2008 Limited

On DVD: Oct 28, 2008

Genius Productions

Death Defying Acts Trailer & Photos

Cast

Guy Pearce
Harry Houdini
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Mary McGarvie
Timothy Spall
Mr. Sugarman
Saoirse Ronan
Benji
Malcolm Shields
Leith Romeo
Leni Harper
Leith Romeo's Wife
Ralph Riach
Mr. Robertson
Olivia Darnley
Flower Stall Seller
Anthony O'Donnell
Oily Librarian
Billy McColl
McTavish
James Holmes
Ugly Mug
Frankey Martyn
Rose
Aileen O'Gorman
Seamstress
Raymond Griffiths
Music hall Dwarf
Shaun Mason
Heckler
Tom Cotcher
Boxer's Manager
Joanne Cummins
Houdini Fan 1
Carol Robb
Houdini Fan 2
Mark Carter
Reporter 1
MacKay Crawford
Psychic Reporter
Paul Grunert
Hotel Manager
Graeme McKnight
Bellboy
Aaron Brown
Sugaman's assistant
Martin Fisher
Concierge
Emma Humprhies
Chambermaid
Miles Jupp
Ventriloquist
Tim Frost
Tap Dancer
Chloe Mackie
Psychic Twin
Holly Mackie
Psychic Twin
David McKail
Matre d
Maev Alexander
Autograph Hound
Richard Dean Anderson
Angel with Red Hair
Rod Arthur
Police Chief
Alan David
Professor
Lorraine Hilton
Professor's Assisstant
Dodger Phillips
Reporter 2
Campbell Graham
Reporter 3
Jack Bailey
Red-Haired Pilot
Justin Flagg
Montreal Student
Cloe Mackie
Silvia Lombardo
Saiorse Ronan

Critic Reviews for Death Defying Acts

All Critics (37) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (22) | DVD (3)

What the film loses in momentum as the romance takes over, it gains in sex appeal as its two attractive actors make their own kind of magic.

July 11, 2008 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times

| Comment

Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

Top Critic

All a 'what if' movie needs to win me over are some lush costumes and production design, a smart casting choice or two, and a really ridiculous basic idea. Death Defying Acts obliges on all fronts.

July 11, 2008 Full Review Source: Slate

| Comment

Dana Stevens

Slate

Top Critic

Director Gillian Armstrong is more attentive to decor than the story, which never seems in a hurry to get anyplace in particular and concludes with a thud.

July 11, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Post

| Comment

Kyle Smith

New York Post

Top Critic

Zeta-Jones and Pearce don't have much chemistry, the script lacks any significant depth and the direction feels oddly uninspired.

July 11, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Daily News

| Comment

Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

Top Critic

Death Defying Acts, a fictionalized love story involving Harry Houdini, could be a sweet little discovery if only the relationship at the core of it were more convincing.

July 11, 2008 Comment

New York Times

Top Critic

Sounding intriguing enough in concept, Death misses the mark onscreen in a way adaptations of deceptively cinematic novels often do.

September 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Lisa Nesselson

Variety

Top Critic

It's a shame that the story itself feels like smoke and mirrors with nowhere to go, wanting to have its cake and eat it too.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall

| Comment

Rich Cline

Shadows on the Wall

Death Defying Acts is a hugely enjoyable, impressively directed drama with superb performances and an emotionally engaging script. Terrific final scene too. Highly recommended.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: ViewLondon

| Comment

Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

It's all a touch undercooked and dull.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: This is London

| Comment

Derek Malcolm

This is London

It's a movie that seems to have been lavished with care and performed with gusto, yet its tale of fakery sounds its own knell: there's not a believable moment in it.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Independent

| Comment

Anthony Quinn

Independent

A watchable, enjoyable but fairly forgettable film, Death Defying Acts has plenty of smoke and mirrors and not quite enough magic.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Sun Online

| Comment

Sun Online

It's pretty but dull, with Pearce and Zeta-Jones never convincing as supposedly hot-for-each other rivals.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK]

| Comment

Daily Mirror [UK]

It all looks pretty enough - but well before the end you'll be plotting your escape.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film

| Comment

Philip Kemp

Total Film

This is better than the dull Edward Norton vehicle The Illusionist, all involved should have conjured up a companion piece to Christopher Nolan's The Prestige.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Sky Movies

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Rob Daniel

Sky Movies

And while less magical than The Prestige, it's perfectly charming matin�e fare.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph

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Sukhdev Sandhu

Daily Telegraph

The movie is over-schematic, slow-moving and over-furnished. It never seems to come alive with any believable interplay of characters; the movie locks itself into a watertight tank of a premise, and the handcuffs won't come off.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

Houdini's mission to debunk fake spiritualists is hijacked by this wholly fraudulent love story. There's not a moment in the film that feels honest and uncontrived.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

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Wendy Ide

Times [UK]

A pleasant, frothy period confection that's as decorative and insubstantial as Zeta Jones's character.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Anna Smith

Film4

All in all, it's a bit of a snore that falls back on romance when all else fails.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Dave Calhoun

Time Out

Despite the confused tone and underwhelming romance, this pretty little picture entertains in the main thanks to the intriguing subject matter and top turns from Zeta-Jones and Ronan.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Anna Smith

Empire Magazine

excepting experimental films, plot is a key reason we watch movies. Without an interesting one, an hour and a half of competent filmmaking becomes about an hour and 25 minutes of boredom.

July 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine

| Comment

Sean Gandert

Paste Magazine

Perhaps the film isn't a grandiose statement of splintered lives, but it's an agreeable drama, best when it stays close to the decomposing heart of a professional liar.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com

| Comment

Brian Orndorf

BrianOrndorf.com

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Death Defying Acts

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A fictitious account of Harold Houdini. It focuses on a love he has for a woman that claims to be psychic. Unfortunately the film is void of any real engagement or excitement. Zeta-Jones is fine, but never for a single second did I believe she was going to screw over Houdini. This left me with a rather predictable love

July 20, 2011

Luke Baldock

Super Reviewer

Overall this really is a pleasant and enjoyable film, but it is incredibly typical. There is nothing particuarly special about it, nor does it do anything unexpected. It is mediocre to the very end, but at the same time decent to watch. I picked this up because Saoise Ronan was in it, and she is so young and tiny! And

May 9, 2010

Jake ....

Super Reviewer

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