Death Defying Acts (2007)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Gillian Armstrong

Writers:

Tony Grisoni (written by) &
Brian Ward (written by)

Release Date:

13 March 2008 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

There is no escape.

Plot:

On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Narration | Escape Artist | Dying Words | Fraud

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Guy Pearce	...	Harry Houdini
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Mary McGarvie
Timothy Spall	...	Sugarman
Saoirse Ronan	...	Benji McGarvie
Malcolm Shields	...	Leith Romeo
Leni Harper	...	Leith Romeo's wife
Ralph Riach	...	Mr. Robertson
Olivia Darnley	...	Flower Stall Seller
Anthony O'Donnell	...	Oily Librarian
Billy McColl	...	McTavish
James Holmes	...	Ugly Mug
Melanie Harris	...	Rose (as Frankey Martyn)
Aileen O'Gorman	...	Effie - Elderly Seamstress
Raymond Griffiths	...	Music Hall Dwarf
Shaun Mason	...	Heckler

Also Known As:

Death Defying Acts: Houdini's Secret (USA) (DVD box title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some sensuality, thematic material, language, violent content and smoking.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK | Australia

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:PG | Ireland:PG | South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG | New Zealand:PG | Finland:K-7 | Hong Kong:IIA | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Netherlands:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene before Houdini try to communicate with his passed mother via Mary McGarvie, it can be clearly seen there is a vacuum tube that happened to be a 6C33C Russian vacuum tube, which does not exist until the 60s, and further more, that vacuum tube couldn't work anymore, since it was leaked (it has a white layer of powder inside the tube that shows there is air inside).

Tasteful direction,vague script, miscasting, and detached point of view make this a leaden experience.

Tasteful direction seems to kill any chance of getting a glimpse of what the characters in this film might have really been like. It's like a very detached museum piece created by a well meaning suburban curator, who wants everything to be viewed in the nicest possible light. Houdini was a very tough ex-circus performer..a guy who started in the scummiest dumps and worked his way up..and the Edinburgh music hall scene was an absurdity. I went to music halls in Edinburgh in the 1950s, and you could smell the beer and body odour, hear the place ringing out with cat calls, swearing, smart-aleck remarks..not in this dainty presentation..and this was supposed to be the much cruder 1920s. That daintiness seems to extend to the female con artists, who must be the best dressed, best fed couple of slappers in history..and how has Ms Zeta Jones become so boring? She used to be so full of zest and sass. There's very little zest and sass in this script or in this film.