Death Defying Acts poster & wallpaper

Aaron Brown, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cloe Mackie

"Death Defying Acts" is based on the life of Harry Houdini, the fictional tale of how an escapologist fell in love with an Edinburgh woman.

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31% liked it

2,861 ratings

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46% liked it

37 critics

PG, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Gillian Armstrong

Release Date: July 11, 2008

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DVD Release Date: October 28, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (518)

  • StaisilD
    March 9, 2009
    StaisilD
    Trying to make ends meet in Scotland during the 1920s, Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) work as Dickensian con artists, passing themselves off as psychics of atypical ability. Learning of Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) and his contest that will rewar...( read more)d $10,000 to anyone who can determine the last words of his dead mother, Mary makes it her mission to find out the answer by getting close to Houdini when he arrives for a tour. Beguiled by her beauty and psychic skill, Houdini makes a play for Mary's heart, revealing himself to the woman in ways he's always kept hidden from view. The characters are not accustomed to naked emotional declarations, and the film does a serviceable job attempting to crawl inside the mind of guarded personalities who've spent most of their lives playing extravagant roles to survive a cruel world. Gillian Armstrong's lush visuals effectively complement Tony Grisoni and Brian Ward's slow-moving screenplay, yet there's no denying that the movie occasionally feels as though it's been put together with a prefabricated mold for costume dramas. "Death Defying Acts" lacks ideal mystery, but it evokes a romantic era with generous screentime, and the performances are accomplished all around.
  • laVenrose
    July 31, 2008
    laVenrose
    Directed by: Gillian Armstrong
    Genres: Romance, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Drama
    Casts : Guy Pearce, Catherina Zeta-Jones, Saoirse Ronan, Timothy Spall


    My Brilliant Career and Oscar and Lucinda director Gillian Arm...( read more)strong explores the final feat of the greatest illusionist ever to deceive a live audience in this docudrama concerning Harry Houdini's obsessive quest to find proof of an afterlife. The year is 1926, and Houdini (Guy Pearce) is an international superstar. Not only does the illusionist's otherworldly ability to bend reality hold audiences completely enthralled, but his easy charm finds him winning the hearts of his growing legion of fans as well. Yet behind Houdini's winning smile resides the restless heart of a tortured soul. Isolated by fame and drowning in regret over having not been present to hear his mother's last words, Houdini sets out in tour of Scotland and announces that he will pay 10,000 dollars to anyone who can prove spiritual contact with his deceased mother. But in his determination to prove that there is life after death, Houdini also becomes the target of countless charlatans, scam artists, and self-proclaimed spiritualists. Of course, stunning psychic Mary McGregor (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter/sidekick, Benji (Saoirse Ronan), seem remarkably sincere in their supernatural talents, yet that doesn't mean that the pair doesn't have their own ulterior motives for making a connection with the world-famous magic man.



    Well for starters, we've seen a flurry of flicks in the recent couple of years about the art of illusion. We had the magical Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in the phenomenal The Prestige as two magician rivals, , were bitter rival magicians, struggle to win over love and illusion achievement. We had Edward Norton starred in The Illusionist. But along came Harry Houdini played by Guy Pearce, as the master escapologist in Gillian Armstrong's flick Death Defying Acts.
    There's no real tension throughout the movie and simply nothing specific to root for. Alas, that center doesn't hold: There's inadequate chemistry between the two leads, and it isn't convincingly written into their characters, either. On the contrary both of the leads do their accents pretty good. But simply a star quality in them is unable to retrieve the two unlikable characters that hardly seem to be made for each other, you know what I'm saying. Apparently, the whole movie 100% depends on the 'spot the star' syndrome which commonly happen in Hollywood movie industry. Saoirse Ronan is one talented actress and I think she is the best among the other casts. We all have witnessed her greatness in her previous movie Atonement and despite all the dislikeness of this particular movie, we may watch the encore of her amazing gift.
    The sad part of Death Defying Acts tries to convey whatsoever its senior The Prestige or The Illusionist set into motion. I didn't find anything, one damn single thing to be remembered of, yet it was disappointing and pretty much a failure.





    "May God have mercy.. on my immortal soul."
    -The Great Harry Houdini-
  • EarthlyAlien
    July 2, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    Scottish local: Welcome back to Scotland, Mr. Houdini!
    Harry Houdini: Thank you, son. That monster Nessie still here?
    Scottish local: 'Aye, she's still here.
    Harry Houdini: Well, why don't you tell Nessie that this Harry Houdini's gonna tie a knot in her t...( read more)ail and fling her into the Scottish Ocean?"

    Photobucket

    What had drawn me to watch Death Defying Acts is that it's a story with Harry Houdini, arguably the greatest illusionist and escape artist of our time. A few days ago I was browsing through a book which revealed the secrets behind his brand of death defying acts, and really he's a man of science, engineering and most of all, a performer to bring to life the act of fooling an audience into believing his stunts. Sure there's an element of danger, but with proper risk assessment and safeguards, they strip away all the mystique that serves to confound.

    But contrary to the title, there's nothing really death defying about the film, as it threaded on safe ground and didn't dwell any more on the illusions that it has to. In fact, you can count the number of stunts which involve Harry Houdini, and the filmmakers left that for another biographical film that someone else should pick up on. What we have instead are glimpses into the man's personal life, and Guy Pearce provided quite an intense and charismatic Houdini with personal demons of his own to battle with, though the story seemed to rein him in from dwelling too much on that aspect, and preferred to have a more romantic tale weaved in.

    The romanticism of the film is not with his illusions, but with a single parent who's a psychic of sorts, relying on her street smarts to get her own act going. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the fictional Mary McGarvie, who has to rely on her wits to build credibility for her stage character. Together with daughter and sidekick Benji (the world's newest star, Saoirse Ronan), the mother and daughter team tries hard to make a living from their acts, but realize that they're by no means close to Houdini's widespread fame and fortune.

    However, Houdini himself throws a gauntlet to all psychics far and wide, that whosoever can accurately reveal what his late mother had last said to him, will inherit US $10,000. His purpose, it seems, is to reveal that the majority of these soothsayers are tricksters in disguise, until of course he meets the luminous Mary, and affairs of the heart throws him off course. Naturally, Mary and Benji find themselves up against the best in the business, but when your back is against the wall, there's nothing much to lose, it seems.

    As mentioned earlier, this film's more of a character study of the master magician, and explores things like his guilt because of dedication to his craft and performance, as well as his questionable motives in being attracted to Mary McGarvie. Narrated by the character of Benji, we see things through a child's eyes, and perhaps therein lies the loss of some pathos in the romantic angle of it. On one hand, it isn't your classic romantic story, while on the other, it doesn't seem to want to preach the method, rationale and mindset of Houdini himself.

    So what emerged is a mixed bag. Beautifully shot by Cypriot cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos and with a stunning score by Australian composer Cezary Skubiszewski, but again falling on the emptiness of its effort in trying to allow the audience to feel for the characters. At least Timothy Spall, who plays Mr Sugarman, Houdini's manager, allowed for some light moments as the guarded and wary person that he is, and the young Saoirse Ronan is always a joy to watch, even if her Scottish accent may sound a bit forced occasionally. And credit goes to keeping the ending quite right too.
  • LisaMJ
    July 21, 2009
    LisaMJ
    A little dull.
  • anastasia57001
    October 30, 2008
    anastasia57001
    very good film, i am rating more than the average other gave it- because i can't really find a flaw in it. excellent photography, very good performances, and a story that flows (even though with some effort) it certainly felt to me more than 3/5 others gave it.
  • tiffanychung
    November 19, 2009
    tiffanychung
    very different from the other tricky films like the prestige and the illusionist.
  • ilovejohnnydeppLY
    August 20, 2009
    ilovejohnnydeppLY
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    etween houdini and the girl. but
  • FlyingSolo2009
    July 30, 2009
    FlyingSolo2009
    Not so much to do with Houdini's tricks and more to do with the romance between him and a psychic. That was fine with me because I do love the romances.
  • itsalittlebitfunny5
    July 5, 2009
    itsalittlebitfunny5
    It was pretty amazing
  • joaoprp
    June 28, 2009
    joaoprp
    An average movie, easily forgettable but not a pain to watch.
    This is a misc between the actual life of Harry Houdini and some fancy story they put there to make his life more appealing (not that there's something wrong with that).
    Good acting, beautiful scenario. Frankly, it's h...( read more)ard to say why the movie is average, I guess it simply doesn't have something that pulls the spectators attention.

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Critic Reviews

July 11, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Director Gillian Armstrong is more attentive to decor than the story, which never seems in a hurry to get anyplace in particular and concludes with a thud. full review

View more Death Defying Acts reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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  • Death Defying Acts- Benji (Saoirse Ronan) steals an object from the pocket of a gentleman attending the "psychic performance" she and her mother, Mary (Catherine Zeta-Jones) are a part of in order to use it in a con. My question is, what does she take?  Answer »
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