I'll get into my distaste of "The Prestige" next week when I get around to writing a review, but I can already sense that I'll be in a definitive minority. Let alone the Drew McWeeneys of the world who are destined to love anything genre with a twist, but I expect a lot of the critical community to go with this thing despite their better judgment.

Yes, there's a lot of great artistry at work here from Nolan. The idea of crafting a film in the mold of a magic trick's three act layout is brilliant. And he is proving with every new outing that he commands thematic and creative film structure like none of his peers. But Christopher Priest's story seems to be more fitting on the page, where we are allowed to manifest much more within the confines of our imagination than we are with films. The resulting screenplay, which Nolan and brother Jonah have worked on diligently since the "Memento" days, unravels at a staggering rate in a denoument that screams stupidity - not due to unbelievability, mind you. But just a general "That's it?" feeling that is the worst feeling one can have walking away from a film.

"The Illusionist" was asking a lot as well. But it was also a tight film that worked well on it's own merits. That goes a long way. And while "The Prestige" isn't the worst film of the year, it is certainly the most disappointing.

More later