[Strangler Lewis]

I liked both, but I found the competition at the core of "The Prestige" to be more compelling than the lost/found love thing at the core of "The Illusionist." "The Presige" reminded me of "Sleuth." "The Illusionist" reminded me of "The Princess Bride," except without the humor and the ROUSes.

I also thought that Christian Bale's character was fairly interesting in that, at least initially, he was unlikeable in a fairly lowkey, "What's wrong with this asshole" sort of way. The movie's low ratings might be attributable to the fact that Edward Norton provides more of a solid core for a movie than Hugh Jackman who is basically a handsome dish towel. Actually, to my mind, "The Prestige" was Jackman's most compelling showing since, like Tom Cruise, he seems to be at his best playing a handsome fellow who is totally in over his head.