City done proud in latest Houdini act

Published on Wednesday 25 June 2008 08:59

Death Defying Acts *** Cineworld FORGET David Blaine and Derren Brown. If you're looking for memorable stunts and illusions, Harry Houdini is your man. Or rather he was 80 years ago, as documented in new movie Death Defying Acts.

Edinburgh, 1926: Houdini (Guy Pearce), the world's most famous escapologist, has arrived in the city to debunk spiritualism in all its forms, offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can tell him the words whispered to him by his recently deceased mother.

Consequently, he soon meets Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a charlatan spiritualist who works the local theatres with her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan).

As Houdini performs his act, he continues to investigates those who claim to have contact with the "other side" and it is not long before love blossoms with Mary. She soon has to decide where her interests really lie, with wealth or with Houdini.

The first thing to note in director Gillian Armstrong's film is that Edinburgh does us proud. Aerial views of the Castle and its surrounds are never less than impressive and with a city skyline that has hardly changed since the 1920s, there is little needed to take the viewer back in time with CGI, although a computer-generated Scott Monument does appear briefly. The fact that the majority of the film was shot in London doesn't distract too much, though a tour of Old Town and New Town of the day would surely have made VisitScotland happier.

Pearce's toned physique is evidence of hours spent at the gym in preparation for the role. It's just a shame his characterisation isn't in as in good shape – Houdini is sadly two-dimensional throughout. Zeta-Jones gives a good performance as money-grabbing, soon-to-be lovestruck, Mary, and the love story that revolves around the pair is tenderly played – a scene atop the aforementioned Scott Monument particularly appealing.

Elsewhere Timothy Spall, as Houdini's manager Sugarman, adds light relief. His scenes with the young Saorise Ronan, especially those at Edinburgh Zoo, are welcome. A cast of well-kent Scottish faces also pepper the film, avoiding too many cringeworthy attempts at local accents.

It's worth mentioning that the original version of the script didn't actually include Harry Houdini, his addition coming late in the day. Suspect historical accuracy – Houdini did spend time in Edinburgh between 1905 and 1920 but Mary McGarvie never existed – does raise some questions as to the reason behind adding the character at all. Surely a man with a life as full of incident and excitement is a scriptwriter's dream, so why invent a love story that never happened?

Glossing over factual inaccuracies, Death Defying Acts remains a sumptuous-looking trip to an Edinburgh now long gone. A competent love story will please the romantics in the audience while others may leave the cinema pondering the fact that the motivation behind the film is shrouded in as much mystery as one of Houdini's acts.

&#149 Death Defying Acts will be screened again at Cineworld, Thursday, 5pm