I predict Christopher Nolan's The Prestige won't work for everyone -- perhaps it's too dark, or its story might seem inconsequential. One element in the movie requires a leap of faith, leading to an ending that potentially feels unsatisfying. I admit this, and yet I enjoyed watching The Prestige more than nearly all of the movies I've seen so far this year.

Maybe it's the way the film is put together and presented so assuredly, exactly like a professional magician would assemble an act. Nolan's movie, an ambitious work of muscle and mystery, dares to tell its tale of dueling magicians in turn-of-the-century Victorian England by running three timelines -- the story's beginning, middle, and end -- parallel to each other, intercutting among them so that its audience must pay close attention. Along the way, The Prestige  reveals only as much information as you need to gradually put the whole picture together, all the while increasing the tension of the magicians' rivalry, until the payoff arrives in the form of showing us what is horrifically at stake. The Nolan who directed Memento is back is full force here, delivering a dark movie of highly entertaining trickery.

The two magicians in question are Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), and initially they're placed in the protagonist and antagonist roles, respectively. We follow the showmanship-savvy Angier through a personal tragedy that ultimately motivates him to seek revenge against the more naturally talented but socially uncouth Borden; and after Borden is victimized the first time by Angier, he tries to return the favor. The further they go, the more drastic their measures become, until this personal contest consumes them with no end in sight and no holds barred. And as the movie progresses, we find our allegiances constantly shifting until we don't know who we should get behind anymore, if anyone at all.

In his last three movies, Nolan has put a flashlight to the dark areas of men's souls -- what drives them to do the obsessive things they do, and why do they stay there? Once they find a black corner to reside in, morals blur and dissolve and self-preservation requires trading in some pieces of one's humanity. In Memento, creating a sense of purpose comes at a great cost; in Insomnia, a cover-up is burdened by a building guilt; and in Batman Begins, the ability to control fear comes with a little bit of insanity.

The Prestige feels like the blackest exploration yet -- this is a mean and nasty film about men consumed by the goal of triumphing against their competition in the most merciless way. It's a movie about the worst side of humanity, and it appeals to me precisely because it doesn't hold back -- that makes it believable in a very scary way. Loved ones are sacrificed and ethical boundaries are crossed along the way -- it's ugly but at the same time the contest seems so seductive, mostly because we can feel how the mere prospect of winning is so tantalizing. Sadly, we see this kind of thing everyday, from the competition between corporations to the standoffs between nations, and The Prestige shows how easy and even easily tempting it is to fall into these duels to the death (the movie not only features this fact in its main story but also links it to history by including the rivaly between inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla -- here played by David Bowie in a cameo -- in a subplot).

Human beings are capable of terrible things everyday, and what makes us human involves our conscience. The Prestige deals with men who have misplaced theirs as they try to discover each other's secrets while stopping at nothing to top a rival. It's a relentless battle of wills, and I find few areas of the human experience as fascinating as that particular fight (which also explains my love for another recent movie, The Queen).

Nolan uses all the tools available to him here. He realizes the strongest potential of his actors -- the mask-like charms of Jackman, the bordering-on-psycho mania of Bale, and the wise and confident dignity of Michael Caine as the magicians' mentor. He combines technique, theme, and the subject of the world of magic to create a dazzling movie about very disreputable things. It's a direct, bleak story, but in Nolan's magician-like hands, The Prestige ends up being quite a show.

(Released by Newmarket Films and rated "PG-13" for violence and disturbing images.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.