Toronto. Death Defying Acts.

"Lately, [Gillian Armstrong's] been losing herself in well-appointed but dull prestige pictures like Oscar & Lucinda and Charlotte Gray, and I'm sad to report that her latest period piece, about the relationship between Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and a Scottish psychic (Catherine Zeta-Jones), isn't a return to form," blogs Scott Tobias at the AV Club.

"When Armstrong focuses on the Houdini character and runs (randomly) through some of the stories that made him famous, Death Defying Acts is pretty effortlessly diverting," writes Scott Weinberg at Cinematical. "Unfortunately, the longer the film wears on, the less 'fun' and the more 'dour' it gets."

"Last year's The Illusionist and The Prestige located an audience for costume dramas revolving around stage sleight-of-hand and gimmicky suspense narratives, rather than the usual drawing-room or court intrigue," writes Dennis Harvey in Variety. "Death Defying Acts might benefit from whatever appetite those pics whet, but it lacks their revenge-driven mystery hooks, offering instead romping and romance that feel half-baked."

Posted by dwhudson at September 21, 2007 1:40 PM