THE ILLUSIONIST

CAROLINE: I was fortunate enough to attend the red carpet world premiere of “The Illusionist,” thanks to my friend Adam… because I’m fancy like that.

RYAN: I wish I had been that fancy! I saw it reluctantly last night -but I must confess, the film is abbasolutely gorgeous!

CAROLINE: I enjoyed it. I did get to watch it with Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel all in the theater with me. And I enjoyed the movie. I wondered, part-way through, as I was getting a little bit bored… if this was a first feature. And when I looked it up on IMDB, I did see that it was the director’s second film ever.

RYAN: Well.

CAROLINE: I felt that was a little bit obvious.

RYAN: I’ll give you that it was a wee bit long; however, every shot held my attention. I am in love with this film. It’s the best of the year, thus far.

CAROLINE: Ok whoa, that’s a strong statement.

RYAN: It is.

CAROLINE: I do not agree.

RYAN: I stand firm. It’s brilliant and awe-inspiring. Let’s talk about the cast. Paul Giamatti as a bad guy. Loved. Great.

CAROLINE: I hated him in the movie, but that was the idea.

RYAN: Well, you hate the character… ‘cos he was that good. There was no cheese to his performance. He really played it.

CAROLINE: Also it’s a period piece. It’s all well done; the costumes, they really captured the way that people used to gather to watch these “crazy illusionists.”

RYAN: And it made me believe in love again! It’s romantic.

CAROLINE: Absotively! The romance in this movie is fab!

RYAN: I actually vocally responded when the romance came to a peak in the film.

CAROLINE: Definitely very touching and poignant.

RYAN: Edward Norton’s intensity was flawless.

CAROLINE: Yeah, he was great.

RYAN: Even Lil’ Jessica Biel pulled it off.

CAROLINE: I know. I thought her accent was decent. I was shocked.

RYAN: She did a great job. But overall, the cinematography, color of the film, the framing… it all almost was reminiscent of a Bob Zemeckis movie.

CAROLINE: Wow, that’s saying something. You love him.

RYAN: Everything was sooo beautiful… I felt like I was drooling during this film.

CAROLINE: You may, in fact, have been. And I wish I had been there…

RYAN: You could have wiped my chin.

CAROLINE: (laughs) It has a fun ending and that’s all I’ll say.

RYAN: Perfect. What’s your bottom line here?

CAROLINE: I really enjoyed it. I was very pleased to see Edward Norton in something good again. I was a little bored at moments but for the most part, liked it.

RYAN: I loved it. Biggest A plus. Run, don’t walk, to see this movie. It is so brilliant and gorgeous and touching and incredible and it’s the best film of the year…

CAROLINE: Ok. That’s enough out of you.