User reviews

I really did not care that this was not a factual account of Houdini's life. There are some truths in the depiction of Harry (some actual B&W footage is used of his acts and his debunking of mystics). It was enjoyable, had beautiful cinematography, elements of humor a story of love and life...however implausible it may be, it does not detract from elegance of watching Catherine Zeta Jones(Mary McGarvie) try to support herself and her daughter, matching wits with the great Houdini.

Catherine displays a grace and style combined with fire and drive. Her daughter provides moments of comedic relief and there is tension between Catherine and Guy Pearce - should she win the money at any cost, allow herself to fall in love, what is in the afterlife? This was entertainment based on Houdini, a platform to tell a story which I thought was well done.

What had drawn me to watch Death Defying Acts, is that it's a story with Harry Houdini, arguably the greatest illusionist and escape artist of our time. A few days ago I was browsing through a book which revealed the secrets behind his brand of death defying acts, and really he's a man of science, engineering and most of all, a performer to bring to life the act of fooling an audience into believing his stunts. Sure there's an element of danger, but with proper risk assessment and safeguards, they strip away all the mystique that serves to confound.

But contrary to the title, there's nothing really death defying about the movie, as it treaded on safe ground and doesn't dwell any more on the illusions that it has to. In fact, you can count the number of stunts which involve Harry Houdini, and the filmmakers left that for another biographical movie that someone else should pick up on. What we have instead are glimpses into the man's personal life, and Guy Pearce provided quite an intense and charismatic Houdini with personal demons of his own to do battle with, though the story seemed to rein him in from dwelling too much on that aspect, and preferred to have a more romantic tale weaved in.

The romanticism of the movie is not with his illusions, but with a single parent who's a psychic of sorts, relying on her street smarts to get her own act going. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Mary McGarvie, who has to rely on her wits to build credibility for her stage character. Together with daughter and sidekick Benji (played by Saoirse Ronan of Atonement fame), the mother and daughter team tries hard to make a living from their acts, but realize that they're by no means close to Houdini's widespread fame and fortune.

However, Houdini himself throws a gauntlet to all psychics far and wide, that whosoever can accurately reveal what his late mother had last said to him, will inherit US$10,000. His purpose it seems is to reveal that the majority of these soothsayers are tricksters in disguise, until of course he meets the luminous Mary, and affairs of the heart throws him off course. Naturally, Mary and Benji find themselves up against the best in the business, but when your back is against the wall, there's nothing much to lose it seems.

As mentioned earlier, this movie's more of a character study of the master magician, and explores things like his guilt because of dedication to his craft and performance, as well as his questionable motives in being attracted to the fictional Mary McGarvie. Narrated by the character of Benji, we see things through a child's eyes, and perhaps therein lies the loss of some pathos in the romantic angle of it. On one hand, it isn't your classic romantic story, while on the other, it doesn't seem to want to preach the method, rationale and mindset of Houdini himself.

So what emerged is a mixed bag. Beautifully shot, but again falling on the emptiness of its effort in trying to allow the audience to feel for the characters. At least Timothy Spall, who plays Mr Sugarman, Houdini's manager, allowed for some light moments as the guarded and wary person that he is. And credit goes to keeping the ending quite right too.

There's nothing death defying about Death Defying Acts. This is a pretty conventional motion picture that doesn't try to do anything new with the genre it's portraying. There's nothing terribly wrong about this, but there isn't anything particularly original about the movie either. While it's been pretty maligned in some circles - maybe this is why it never was released in the States and it arrived two years late in Peruvian theatres - it's not a bad movie; it's OK, I guess, but nothing spectacular. This is the hardest type of movie to review - the kind of film that didn't make an impression on me, but that isn't that bad either. This will definitely be a short review.

The film tells the story of mega-famous magician and trickster Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce - Memento). He's arrived on Britain as part of one of his tours - he's looking for a magician or psychic that can be able to guess - or "see" - the last words his mother uttered before dying. You see, this is all part of a scientific experiment he wishes to conduct. Something unexpected happens the moment he arrives at Scotland, though - he falls in love with psychic Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), whose daughter and "apprentice", Benji (Saoirse Ronan) approached to accept his scientific challenge.

If that small plot summary sounded simplistic, that's because it is. The movie is not particularly ambitious, and that's maybe why I was left overwhelmed by it - there's so much to say about a figure as famous and recognizable as Houdini, and the film decides to focus on something decidedly dull. The film actually starts with some promise - I liked Ronan's voice-over, and it almost seemed as if the film was to focus on something interesting. But then, of course, I started to discover this was going to be a romance - a very clichéd, underdeveloped romance, at that - and I shuddered.

If there's a reason why the film is not bad, it's because of some solid performances. Guy Pearce is one of the most underrated actors working today - see his work in the aforementioned Memento if you don't believe me - and although the screenplay doesn't present a particularly three-dimensional version of Houdini, he makes him believable and humane. Catherine Zeta Jones is pretty good too, sporting a credible Scottish accent (!) and trying to portray Mary as a sympathetic figure despite the fact that the writers' don't seem to like the character. Timothy Spall - as Houdini's manager - is great as always, but the real standout is Saoirse Ronan. (Who was also really amazing in Atonement, by the way.) It's not only that she portrays the most developed, interesting and fun character, it's also that she brings it to life - Pearce and Zeta Jones' performances are precisely that (performances) but Ronan seems to be inhabiting her character, definitely putting a lot of passion into a project that arguably doesn't deserve that much.

Despite the fact that Death Defying Acts is already available on DVD and Blu-Ray in most countries, I got to see it in theatres. I can't say I regret having paid for this particularly theatrical viewing experience, but I won't enthusiastically recommend the movie either. The screenplay, while not terrible, is pretty ordinary, and the direction is all right. (Cinematography is gorgeous, though, and the score is beautiful.) Performances - especially Ronan's - are what save the film from entering the realm of mediocrity, but if you really want to watch a magician's flick, I'd recommend either the Illusionist or The Prestige.

This film is about a woman who works as a con artist trying to deceive Harry Houdini into believing that she has psychic powers.

"Death Defying Acts" sounds like an action movie, but the poster looks more like a romantic film. In fact it is neither. It is a slowly unfolding drama about how Mary attempts to con Harry, and how harry falls for her.

As Houdini is the greatest escape artist of all times, a film about him should have been exciting, thrilling and even death defying. However, this film has none of these attributes. The plot is slow, plain and not exciting at all. There is not much tension or drama to captivate me. I do not care about the characters, and whatever relationship they have between them. There is little chemistry between Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Frankly, I think they are both miscast. Fortunately, Saoirse Ronan is delightful as the psychic sidekick. She is the one who save the film.

"Death Defying Acts" turns out to be a bore. I am quite disappointed by it.

Another magician movie? But The Illusionist and The Prestige were great movies, so why not? Catherine Zeta Jones plays a foxy, yet poor, mother, scamming away through life pretending to be a psychic. When Guy Pearce's Houdini comes into town to prove or disprove the existence of the paranormal, they come into contact.

It is both a sad and a hopeful movie. A little too "psychic" for me and too little about the true nature of Harry Houdini except his fascination for his dead mother. The script itself does not lend itself to praise, but the atmosphere and realisation are top notch.

Bottom line: watch it when you are in a mood for a rom-drama, but you don't care much about the subject.

It might be the weakest of the latest "Magicians" movies (see Prestige and the Illusionist, the latter being overseen at the Box office), but it still has one strong central performance by Guy Pearce. I'm wondering when he will be in some top rated material again. Because the book does let him down a bit here.

He tries everything and he is pretty good in it, but does not have so much to play with, as Ed Norton, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. All are great actors and the others have the opportunity in their movies to shine. This being based on "true events" (some of them I guess, without having the complete background scoop on it), it does fall flat on it's back at times (no pun intended). Plus it might be a bit too much worried about the love story, than actually the story of our main character. At least that's how I felt ... still it can make a nice watch!

Tasteful direction seems to kill any chance of getting a glimpse of what the characters in this film might have really been like. It's like a very detached museum piece created by a well meaning suburban curator, who wants everything to be viewed in the nicest possible light. Houdini was a very tough ex-circus performer..a guy who started in the scummiest dumps and worked his way up..and the Edinburgh music hall scene was an absurdity. I went to music halls in Edinburgh in the 1950s, and you could smell the beer and body odour, hear the place ringing out with cat calls, swearing, smart-aleck remarks..not in this dainty presentation..and this was supposed to be the much cruder 1920s. That daintiness seems to extend to the female con artists, who must be the best dressed, best fed couple of slappers in history..and how has Ms Zeta Jones become so boring? She used to be so full of zest and sass. There's very little zest and sass in this script or in this film.

It sounds like a great idea for a film: a Scottish con-woman, with the manners and mannerisms of a Morningnside lady but a heart of cold steel inside, attempts to con the great Harry Houdini. And Catherine Zeta Jones, in the lead female role, does a surprisingly great job in spite of being Welsh. Unfortunately, Guy Pierce manages to make one of the most intriguing figures of his team seem boring with his shallow performance, Timothy Spall (playing Houdini's manager) seems surprisingly ill-at-ease in a role you might have thought he was made for (and struggles throughout with his accent), while role of the con-woman's daughter is written as wholesome where a little malevolence might have spiced up the plot. In fact, this character provides a narration that seems wholly unnecessary., except to cover up the paucity of actual happenings and pad out the film. The story has notes of whimsy (the con artist, in spite of being a successful public entertainer, lives in a bizarrely Arcadian graveyard), but is never quite fanciful enough to work as fantasy; as a realist story, it's duller than it's premise suggests.

I went to see this movie yesterday - 17th march 2008 (must've been an advanced screening...?) based on the high rating on rotten tomatoes (80). Needless to say, after watching it, I think a 50 would fit the bill more accurately. I'm keeping my review simple, so here are some pros and cons:

Pros Good visuals Guy Pearce is likable and chemistry with CZJ seems to work OK, though is somewhat shallow in some regards Character development is good Unpredictable plot Some light-heated, amusing moments

Cons Plot meanders, and also takes a while to get to certain key moments - probably done in order to develop characters more but a little too slow for my liking Some strange imagery confuses the viewer

In summary, I probably would only go to see this at the movies for the great visuals of old towns and so forth (certainly not the story, plot, effects, etc). Otherwise, wait for it to come out on DVD (and just watch it on the 42" plasma!) if you want an interesting non-Hollywood-ised story with a bit of love and mystery.

Gillian Armstrong makes fine movies: she is a director who knows how to tell stories and enhance what appears on the surface to be reality with a healthy dose of fantasy. Her sense of pacing and image creation adds substance to her tales that sometimes border on bizarre.

DEATH DEFYING ACTS uses the character of Harry Houdini as the stimulus of to tell a story about the folk of Edinburgh, Scotland at a time when stage shows were embraced much the way America was using vaudeville - an escape from the rather dreary state of living to a world of entertainment and love of magic. Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) survive in Edinburgh by picking pockets not merely for cash but for information to use in their act in the little theaters. Mary does exotic dances then uses her 'gifts' to see into the 'other world' of people in the audience ( Benji does the investigative work and is the prompter for the séance like acts Mary performs). Their idol is Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and when they learn Houdini is coming to Edinburgh to 'perform', they discover Houdini is promising $10,000 to anyone who can prove they have the ability to look into the future (or past). Houdini's manager Sugarman (Timothy Spall) arranges Houdini's water tank escape acts and other acts of 'magic', and when Mary and Benji arrange to meet Houdini, Sugarman is aware they are charlatans. How Mary and Benji work their way into Houdini's belief system and love life with their con game forms the meat of the sparing.

The atmosphere of the film is well captured by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos who understands who to balance the mire of the streets of 1926 Edinburgh with the gorgeous fantasies used during Houdini's escape acts. The musical score by Cezary Skubiszewski is a terrific mixture of Scottish tunes and instruments with solid melodramatic mood music. Pearce, Zeta-Jones, Spall and Ronan turn in excellent performances. This is an unjustly overlooked film that, while not being a masterpiece, serves up a fine story well told. Grady Harp

When i went to the screening of this movie,i wasn't so excited. You know, last year there have been severals magicians movies just like "The Prestige", Neil Burger's "The Illusionist, "Next". But i noticed myself that "Death Defying Acts" is not just a simple "magic" movie. It's something "bigger", you know..the story is captivating, fairly, helped by a ligated editing work. I can't spoil you most of the story, but i'm advising you to go and see this when it's gonna be released on screen. Gillian Armstrong gives a touch of real magic directing this impressing, fascinating and thrilling movie, being helped by Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones, that are simply amazing and are "victims" of an unspeakable chemistry that in my opinion should be awarded with an Oscar. 10/10

I am still wondering why this movie was made. It tells the fictional story of Mary, a single mother (Catherine Zeta Jones) who struggles to make a living as a psychic in a cabaret using her good looks, artful deceit and pick-pocketing skills more than actual psychic powers to entertain the working class crowds. She is assisted by her daughter, Benji (Saoirse Ronan from 'Atonement') whose main purpose seems to be to bombard us with the most redundant and annoying narration I've experienced. Mary and Benji make it a point to meet the great Houdini (played by Guy Pearce, so good in Memento) and gain financially from the encounter. Of course, what begins as deceit turns into true love. Never mind the wife at home and the fact that Mary lives in a grave yard.

This a misguided effort from Gillian Armstrong, an uneven director, whose best films, My Brilliant Career, High Tide and Hard to Handle, were too long ago to redeem her reputation after'Charlotte Grey'. She is not aided by the script which is actually worse than Brothers of the Head (Tony Grisoni) and the Interpreter (Brian Ward) who co-wrote.

Magician/illusionist stories are notoriously difficult to make interesting and Death Defying Acts is no exception.

Gillian Armstrong's 'Death Defying Acts' is somewhat of a letdown. It tells the fictional story of a poor but beautiful psychic-wannabe and Houdini through her daughter's point of view. One must be warned that this film is fictional and thus, Pearce's Houdini does not bear much resemblance to the real one. This one lacks the enigma that made the real Houdini so fascinating. Nor does 'Death Defying Acts' stay true to the historical facts. The focus is much more on the psychic aspects (which wasn't that well explored either). The romance between Houdini and Mary is a little repetitive as it moves back and forth between trust and mistrust and then it becomes confusing. There was something lacking. On the plus side, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan and Catherine Zeta-Jones perform well. The sensual Zeta-Jones does part of a scintillating dance as well. Guy Pearce performs good sometimes but he looks confused in many other scenes. The visuals and cinematography are stunning. The background score is whimsical and pleasing. Overall, it is an average movie that could have been better. One ought not to watch 'Death Defying Acts' as a true account but rather try to enjoy it as a work of fiction.

i do not know why this film is flushed with negative reviews. First of all this is not a film about Houdini, there is no reason why this film should dramatically display the amazing acts and potentials of the artist himself; Secondly, i do not see why 'there is no reason for the creation of this movie' is justifiable, this film is just a testimony on how characters carry on with their lives and that itself is enough to make a film meaningful...in fact films like 'Atonement' (where the girl is also in) deserves this statement better where everything is just so FAKE. Third, i haven't watch the illusionist but i have to say this is richer in detail, and thus better than the Prestige--a film which displays too much magic 'action' but no depth to the characters or the plot at all, like an eggshell without the yoke inside...Lastly, this is a decent film where everything is well-made, well presented, well acting performances (exception of Catherine's dramatically 'fake' acting at times), and a good score

Someone on this board wrote that this is the weakest of the "Magician" movies, meaning the Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale entries. I would agree except that this isn't a magician movie.

This fictional story draws on grains of truth. Houdini was after psychics and spiritualists and exposing them as fakes. Here, he offers $10,000 to any psychic who can tell him the last words his mother spoke to him on her deathbed. I believe he did this in real life. I know when he died, he promised to come back and give his wife a message. It's controversial whether or not he did. Allegedly psychic Arthur Ford revealed the code that the Houdinis agreed upon to Mrs. Houdini in 1929, but later, she denied this. There is a film during which the Catholic church pressures her to say it didn't happen.

While performing in England and extending his challenge in the 1920s, Houdini (Guy Pearce) meets a fake psychic Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan). Mary and Benji live by their wits, and Mary thinks she can somehow suss this out by breaking into Houdini's hotel room and researching the mother.

Houdini is taken in by Mary's beauty and, despite herself, she's taken with him. They fall in love.

This is a romance, though we see Houdini do a few tricks. It's nothing like "The Prestige" and "The Illusionist." Ever since Tony Curtis played Houdini, we've been seeing Houdini played by hunks in glossy versions, including Paul Michael Glaser and Jonathan Schaech. Houdini was no looker, and he was short. Guy Pearce has to play Houdini as a person instead of just as a performer, and he does a good job. He plays the role as a tough, plain-speaking, charismatic man, and a loving man at heart.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is stunning, whether on stage as an exotic psychic, in the clothes of someone with no money, or in expensive outfits. She shows us a Mary who is tough, determined, and fearless. My favorite scene was in Houdini's hotel, when she glides in wearing a gorgeous coat (which she took from a costume rack) and heads for the elevator as if she owns the place. The man at the desk takes one look at her worn shoes and knows she's a fake and hotel employees start chasing her. Great scene that shows her cleverness.

I actually found the last scenes very moving, and found the daughter's denial of her gifts interesting.

The photography is beautiful.

Though this isn't a great film, it's an absorbing one. The details at the end, as Houdini meets his public, are true, but some license was taken to make it more dramatic.

I can definitely recommend it as a rental.

Despite the renewed interest in movies about magicians thanks to the success of the recent "The Prestige" and "The Illusionist", as well as the presence of two famous stars and a child actress who was Oscar-nominated for another film she made the same year, "Death Defying Acts" had only a limited theatrical release in a few countries and drew little attention. You will know why if you happen to see it - although the production is fairly lavish, the film feels somehow "small" and restricted. It doesn't have enough dramatic tension, and it doesn't focus enough on Houdini's showmanship. Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones give OK but rather unremarkable performances; the real standout in the cast is the young Saoirse Ronan, who is obviously destined for a long successful career. I also couldn't help but notice that both Pearce and CZJ were in such great physical shape here that they might have fared better doing an action film together. They could have even kept the same title....(**)

"Mary McGarvie" (Katherine Zeta-Jones) is a young woman living in Edinburgh, Scotland during the 1920's who makes a living as a psychic along with her young daughter "Benjie" (Saoirse Ronan). Times are hard and after the theater she works for closes life gets even more difficult for the two of them. Then one day the great "Harry Houdini" (Guy Pearce) comes to town and with him is his challenge of $10,000 to any psychic who can tell him what his mother's last words were to him. Desperate for the money Mary accepts the challenge and of all the people who apply is accepted whole-heartedly. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was an interesting movie for the most part. As always Katherine Zeta-Jones looked gorgeous every time she graced the screen. Likewise, both Guy Pearce and Saoirse Ronan performed quite adequately as well. Unfortunately, the movie had some slower parts here and there and at times it seemed the overall plot lacked direction. Again though it was still somewhat entertaining and I rate it as slightly above average.

As it happens, I translated the Romanian version of this movie's "novelisation", adapted by Greg Cox, so I'm pretty familiar with the details and subtleties of the storyline. As it was already stated here, the script is linear, predictable and formulaic. Correctly built-up, but with no spark. Further, the climax and outcome are messy, superficially constructed and insufficiently justified, leaving in air not a few loose ends...

The commenter Rainmonkey is right: Houdini had no trust and tolerance for spiritualism and the occult in general. It's true that at first, being deeply affected by hid beloved mother's death, he sincerely hoped to contact her through several mediums, and these ones' failings made hum turn frustrated and embittered, thus embarking his crusade of exposing them all as fraud. There were even some notorious instances when, landing as it seems over some genuine psychics, he fabricated fake "evidence" of their alleged "tricks" only to prove them also as crooks. Well, THIS would have been indeed a dramatic ending of our movie here: once Benji starts to have REAL manifestations, Houdini could have tried to rig the experiment as to make it look false - thus, compromising all the human relationship he had built so far with the two Scots... Unfortunately, Grisoni, Ward and Armstrong went for the cheap and well tried beaten trails, with no originality at all...

All in all, a passable entertainment for hairdressers and biology-teachers in junior high - beautiful, sugary and pretty cheap.

When I saw the name of the movie ... i thought "what the hell?" but ... anyhow ... a friend of mine was so thrilled that i had to see it.

I started the movie and i liked the way the movie's painted ... the lightening ... very good indeed ... but harry Houdini is not, for sure, the man we see in the movie. In here, he seems like an arrogant man who instantly falls in love with some girl.

Aside from that, Zeta-Jones is once-again great and she kept me following during the movie ... i was really interested and i thought the little girl was also great...

I recommend the movie ... not a brilliant one ... mas one to see when there's nothing better =)

Death Defying Acts is directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Tony Grisoni and Brian Ward. It stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall and Saoirse Ronan. Music is by Cezary Skubiszewski and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos.

Not a biopic of Harry Houdini, but an episode in his life, Death Defying Acts (a bum steer of a title) is lukewarm across the board. Story charts the years after the death of Houdini's mother, where he travels to 1920s Edinburgh and falls in with Psychic Tricksters Mary (Jones) and Benji McGarvie (Ronan), a mother and daughter team who spy an opportunity to prise a cash reward offered by the great escapologist.

What is intended to be a searching examination of Houdini, his mental fragility, hang-ups, strengths and etc, just plays out as a romantic period piece lacking vim and vigour. Pearce works hard as Houdini but never gets to grasp the tormented angle of the man, while Jones is miscast and not even her pretty face can light up a dull performance. Ronan is sprightly enough and Spall shows some emotive verve as Houdini's concerned manager. The moments of trickery perk things up a bit, but even then the makers think it's wise to debunk the mysticism. The romanticism of the era, and that of Houdini's place in it, is well crafted onto the screen, but the flatness and confused thematic threads elsewhere leave this well below average. 4/10