![]() The writers put cardboard obstacles in his path and tell us how great he is instead of actually proving it. Uninterested in the parts that aren’t cool, the miniseries meanders through some of the drudgery of Houdini’s work, his family, and his marriage to Bess (an underserved and underperforming Kristen Connolly), rendering an American folk hero in blocky CGI.Īs played by Brody, Houdini is a singularly driven prick who gets by because history dictates that he has to. Its narrative moves through each of Houdini’s new tricks, from escaping from a water tank to jumping off a bridge to spying on Kaiser Wilhelm and debunking mediums, while jumping around in time for no reason in an unintentional parody of TV period pieces. ![]() The miniseries purports to tell Houdini’s story, but what it really portrays is a series of spectacles, each emptier than the next. Unfortunately, tonight's History Channel two-part miniseries Houdini, written by Nicholas Meyer and starring Academy Award winner Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini, fails to deliver on every one of these counts. And at the very least, there should be at least a dash of uncertainty something that can be paid off in the same way The Prestige resolves the workings of its seemingly impossible dual Transported Man feats. Illusionist as a profession, like most careers, generally can’t sustain narrative entertainment by itself-the characters have to be compelling, have to make us care about the magic. Otherwise, how can we wonder if the trick will be successful, and when it is, feel compelled to make an effort to puzzle out what happened? In movies or TV, there’s an additional layer of artifice between the viewer and the “magician” that replaces the mystery of magic with the mystery of post-production. But magic really only works when the audience is experiencing it in, if not real life, at least real time. Tricks-sorry, illusions-are effective when they have a proper setup and a willing audience that’s looking to be hoodwinked (not unlike a TV audience). Sorry magicians, it’s not that you’re uninteresting-it’s that what you do is just really hard to dramatize. Slightly Above Average for This Type of Thing but it's Strength is not its History, but the Sheer Dynamism as a Person and Performer along with His Hyper-Volatility and Fascinating Life that was "The Great Houdini".Making magic compelling on-screen is a really difficult trick. Ironically with All of the Money Spent on the CGI the Most Impressive Ambiance here is the Vintage Posters that are Everywhere and Use the Original Artwork with Brody's Face Inserted. The Movie is Guilty of Over-Exposing and Telegraphing the Ending with Way too Many Scenes of Houdini's Innards. What Saves this 2-Part TV Mini-Series from Awfulness is Brody's Energy, the Art-Design, Costumes, and General Look of the Thing. The Usually Good Screenwriter Nicholas Meyer's Sub-Par Script is Less than Insightful and not Very Witty. We are Informed through some Pretty Bad Dialog and at Times Even Worse Narration that All of this is Playing with Houdini's Head, or at Least the Performer was a Heady Individual. This All Makes for Good Drama, but Wait there's More. But it's Obvious He does Love His Wife although She Seems to be Playing Third Fiddle to Mom and His Obsession with The Act. This Takes a Toll on His Wife Along with the Burden of a Mother Fixation. Adrian Brody does Fine as the Charismatic Curmudgeon of the Spiritualists and Highly Successful Performer that Searches Diligently for the Next Illusion and Death be Damned. The History Channel has been Accused of Escaping from the Real Life Story of the 20th Century's Most Renowned and Recognizable Stage Showman/Magician and Delivering a Spiffed Up Glossy Conglomerate of Psycho-Babble and Stiff Characters.
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