MAJOR SPOILERS If you like 'magician' movies then this as fine. As a movie in general it's just about OK.
I didn't have the same reading of whether we are supposed to be believe in the spirit world after watching this film. It is clear to me that we are not !
The final séance is a total con and Harry knows it. McGarvie's dramatic rejection of the lie of the séance is just the misdirection employed by magicians to allow her assistant to be credible as she goes into a trance. The girl says a few words of school boy German knowing that she will not need to have a conversation, "Where are you ? You're not here ?" etc is very easy.
The movie did make think about why Houdini was so anti-spiritualism ? Was he really searching for a 'real' one ? I tend to think not as he could do this without being so public. The movie hints that it is part of his act - his tricks are even more stunning than those of spiritualists. So audience, "Be even more astounded as Harry does this stuff for real as a human. Try to think and figure it out which provides hours and days of fun and discussion long after you have seen his show."
I think the movie does try to reveal something about theatrical magic. McGarvie and Houdini are in the same business of misdirection around the fantastic to earn a dime. We don't see McGarvie using her false sight for anything more than her music hall act which would seem fair game even for Houdini.
Your comments did bring me to my senses - Houdini would not have allowed the McGarvie's to con the world that they had second sight. By the way, I feel my reading is right because Sugerman tells Harry, "I told them.", and Harry replies, "I know." If he thought it was genuine he would have said, "But that was my mother !", or some such. The writer has Harry giving McGarvie fame and fortune because he loves her - and there's another word for leaving $10k on the mantelpiece of someone you just slept with and have no intention of seeing again ! In doing this the writer subverts the historical figure far too much. So I'm back with most posters feeling the movie goes too far but the journey has some interesting ideas on theatre, poverty, truth and being driven.
I didn't have the same reading of whether we are supposed to be believe in the spirit world after watching this film. It is clear to me that we are not !
The final séance is a total con and Harry knows it. McGarvie's dramatic rejection of the lie of the séance is just the misdirection employed by magicians to allow her assistant to be credible as she goes into a trance. The girl says a few words of school boy German knowing that she will not need to have a conversation, "Where are you ? You're not here ?" etc is very easy.
The movie did make think about why Houdini was so anti-spiritualism ? Was he really searching for a 'real' one ? I tend to think not as he could do this without being so public. The movie hints that it is part of his act - his tricks are even more stunning than those of spiritualists. So audience, "Be even more astounded as Harry does this stuff for real as a human. Try to think and figure it out which provides hours and days of fun and discussion long after you have seen his show."
I think the movie does try to reveal something about theatrical magic. McGarvie and Houdini are in the same business of misdirection around the fantastic to earn a dime. We don't see McGarvie using her false sight for anything more than her music hall act which would seem fair game even for Houdini.
Your comments did bring me to my senses - Houdini would not have allowed the McGarvie's to con the world that they had second sight. By the way, I feel my reading is right because Sugerman tells Harry, "I told them.", and Harry replies, "I know." If he thought it was genuine he would have said, "But that was my mother !", or some such. The writer has Harry giving McGarvie fame and fortune because he loves her - and there's another word for leaving $10k on the mantelpiece of someone you just slept with and have no intention of seeing again ! In doing this the writer subverts the historical figure far too much. So I'm back with most posters feeling the movie goes too far but the journey has some interesting ideas on theatre, poverty, truth and being driven.