That stems from Rupert's wife, Julia (PIPER PERABO), drowning in a magic act, a death he blames on Alfred for introducing a new knot that she couldn't untie while underwater. Now established magicians, they spy on the other, trying to figure out their secrets, sabotage their acts, and even steal them for their own. And while he has a beautiful assistant in the form of Olivia (SCARLETT JOHANSSON), Rupert is jealous that Alfred has the life he once had, namely in the form of wife Sarah (REBECCA HALL) with whom Alfred has a child.

His latest act -- where he seemingly transports himself across the stage -- has Rupert obsessed with figuring it out. Cutter says it's just as simple as a body double, a method Rupert even tries by hiring a perpetually drunken actor (HUGH JACKMAN) to serve that save purpose. Yet, he thinks there's something more, eventually leading to him sending Olivia over to the other side as a spy and stealing Alfred's journal.

That leads him to Colorado Springs to meet scientific inventor Nikola Tesla (DAVID BOWIE) and his assistant Alley (ANDY SERKIS). They're conducting experiments with electricity, and Rupert wants Tesla to build him the same sort of contraption he supposedly did for Alfred. By doing so, Rupert sets off a chain of events with repercussions even he couldn't foresee.

Accordingly, Christopher Nolan's film -- named after that third act -- is all about the ending, which is where the story begins. Following Caine's voice-over narration, we see that he's actually testifying at a trial where one magician -- played by Christian Bale -- has been charged with the murder of another -- embodied by Hugh Jackman.

In usual and now tired Hollywood fashion, the film then rewinds to show us how they and the story got to that point (although it then proceeds to jump back and forth through time when necessary). And considering that it comes from Nolan who's made a living telling tales of troubled men obsessed with some sort of personal quest ("Memento," "Insomnia," "Batman Begins"), we know the same is in store here.

Lushly designed (the Victorian era sets and costumes are topnotch), featuring solid to good performances (from the leads as well as Caine playing an inventor of mechanical magic devices, Scarlett Johansson as the lovely assistant to both magicians, Rebecca Hall as a long-suffering magician's wife, David Bowie as the real life scientist Nikola Tesla, and Andy Serkis as his assistant), and an intriguing premise, the film nevertheless suffers from a few problems.

The first is that "The Illusionist" already beat it out of the gate. While competing films aren't anything new (and this one's a smidge better than its rival), there's always the question of how many Victorian era films about mysterious, driven magicians viewers are willing to see.

That aside, there's also the issue that this mano a mano battle of wills features two magicians so hell-bent on destroying the other's act, career and even life that neither turns out particularly sympathetic. Bale and Jackman certainly create compelling characters, and one can easily understand what drives them.

Yet, neither Nolan nor his brother Jonathan -- they collectively adapted Christopher Priest's novel for the big screen -- make us care which one ultimately wins. The battle turns ugly, not to mention repetitive with each repeatedly undermining the other's acts onstage while in disguise, meaning few viewers will likely root for either character.

After setting up the premise -- Jackman's wife (Piper Perabo) dies in a Houdini type water box act and he forever blames that on Bale's character tying the wrong kind of escape knot, thus resulting in a tit for tat battle of magical wills -- the filmmakers settle down on the main gist.

That's where Bowie's real-life character comes in regarding an act both men are trying to perfect -- The Transportation Man. It's where a performer goes in one stage door or entrance and immediately pops out of another, with not enough time to have made his way from one to the next. Despite Cutter thinking it's done with a body double, Angier thinks Tesla is somehow involved with Borden's act and thus wants the scientist to build him a similar sort of contraption.

Which is where the film ultimately falls apart with -- yes, you guessed it -- the Prestige portion of the trick. While having Tesla worried about his own competitor -- Thomas Edison -- and the inventor's thugs is quite intriguing, the end result of the experiment is not.

Without giving anything away, let's just say it necessitates a tremendous dose of suspension of disbelief, something I'm imagining most viewers won't easily swallow, especially considering the sudden genre switcheroo.

Of course, all magic acts require some degree of disbelief (after all, no one thinks what they see is actually real -- or at least one hopes that's the case). Even so, while the opening shot -- a collection of top hats lying scattered across the ground -- is a clue regarding what's eventually to be revealed, I think it might have worked so much better had that new element been more believably introduced and established earlier in the film.

It certainly explains everything that preceded it, but the cat (literally and figuratively) is let out of the bag too soon. And in the moment it occurs, it comes off as too jarring in an "Oh, c'mon" type fashion when compared to everything else that otherwise surrounds it.

Possibly better the second time around when one could see how all of that affects the various pieces fitting together, the film still earns a recommendation, thanks to its performances, good production values and an interesting look at a bygone era of stage magic and illusions. "The Prestige" rates as a 6 out of 10.