I rewatched The Prestige and am surprised at how good the drama and characters are

Nolan has often been criticized for the characters and drama in his movies, with the exception of The Dark Knight and Interstellar (yeah, I like the drama in this one sue me lol), I think there is merit in this criticism.His characters often feel a bit thin and the dramatic elements always pale in comparison to the conceptual. However, I re-watched The Prestige and was blown away by the drama. And it wasn't just a case of me going in with low expectations, I really did find it engrossing.The overarching theme of obsession is an intriguing one by itself, but I just found the story to be very engrossing. I started the film feeling deeply sympathetic for Angier (Hugh Jackman) and really rooting for him, but as the film progresses and he gets more and more obsessed and making more questionable decisions, you feel yourself going deeper into his mind and feeling an element of uncomfortable ness. I felt similar with the film Good Time (2017), but I think it was more pronounced here.At the heart of this story is just a simple rivalry between two men, a tale as old as time... but I just found its execution to be deeply engrossing. The story really is a tragedy, and there's an undercurrent of nihilism to it. Its difficult not to ask "was this really worth it?" when looking at the character's decisions and actions.You know, I think this may in fact be my favourite Hugh Jackman film. I can completely understand why someone may choose Logan or Prisoners, but I prefer the type of role he had here. Those two films are excellent, and we see a lot more visceral and raw anger from Jackman's performances, but The Prestige shows a different side. Rather than the raw loud anger we are used to seeing, instead we see him portray a man who is very "quietly angry". He is angry to his bones and seething with resentment, but he is able to hide that anger. Ultimately though, it manifests in different ways. I find this type of character to be much more fascinating.. I think it reminds me of young Al Pacino, in the sense that he started with roles such as Michael Corleone, whereby that anger is displayed as lurking under the surface behind a resentful and cold demeanour. But then in his later career, he simply started portraying anger in a more explosive and loud fashion.Perhaps its because Nolan was adapting a book, that we saw very well developed characters and drama. I wouldn't know becsuse I haven't read the book, but I truly do reccomend this film. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/3n98401