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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Death Defying Acts (2008)

A con artist (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter (Saoirse Ronan, ATONEMENT), working as a medium and her assistant, plot their biggest con, the internationally famous magician Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce). But both romantic and psychic complications ensue that neither are prepared for. This Gillian Armstrong (MY BRILLIANT CAREER, LITTLE WOMEN) film slipped under the radar with little fanfare (at least here in the States) and one can see why. It’s a mere slip of a film, an engrossing conceit that never taps into its potential while slipping into a maudlin mire. There’s a strong performance by Pearce as the bedeviled Houdini. With Timothy Spall.

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