Death Defying Acts (2008)
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Theatrical Release: Jul 11, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Celebrated director Gillian Armstrong (MY BRILLIANT CAREER, LITTLE WOMEN) helms this film about Harry Houdini's romance with a con woman. In his attempts to contact his dead mother, the magician (Guy Pearce) meets a beautiful psychic named Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who isn't all she... Celebrated director Gillian Armstrong (MY BRILLIANT CAREER, LITTLE WOMEN) helms this film about Harry Houdini's romance with a con woman. In his attempts to contact his dead mother, the magician (Guy Pearce) meets a beautiful psychic named Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who isn't all she appears. Joined by her daughter (ATONEMENT's Saoirse Ronan), Mary tries to con Harry out of his $10,000 reward, an effort which is complicated by the love that grows between them. Set in 1926, this lush period drama also stars Timothy Spall (ENCHANTED). [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall
DVD Info
Release:
Oct 28, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Dolby Digital - English
Pre-order it on DVD
Reviews
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.
Death Defying Acts is a hugely enjoyable, impressively directed drama with superb performances and an emotionally engaging script. Terrific final scene too. Highly recommended.
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.
A watchable, enjoyable but fairly forgettable film, Death Defying Acts has plenty of smoke and mirrors and not quite enough magic.
It’s pretty but dull, with Pearce and Zeta-Jones never convincing as supposedly hot-for-each other rivals.
It all looks pretty enough – but well before the end you’ll be plotting your escape.
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.
And while less magical than The Prestige, it's perfectly charming matinée fare.
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.
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.
A pleasant, frothy period confection that's as decorative and insubstantial as Zeta Jones's character.
All in all, it’s a bit of a snore that falls back on romance when all else fails.
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.
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.
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.
...a decidedly minor addition to the résumé of Australian director Gillian Armstrong...The film moves quickly enough, and it's a passably glossy entertainment, but, as Houdini, Pearce is too young...
Pearce’s boys-adventure take on the vaudeville legend is a hoot, though not nearly as laughable as the dialogue or Zeta-Jones’s pitiful attempts at basic emoting.
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.

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