ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

DEATH DEFYING ACTS is set in the Scotland of 1926, but that is no excuse for the fact that it is so old-fashioned and unconvincing. The relationship between famed escapologist Harry Houdini and a Scottish con artist should have provided the material for a grand love story in which mutual attraction overwhelmed the steely cynicism of both parties.

Unfortunately, awkward casting and a lacklustre script fail to make the most of the material even if the locations are undoubtedly handsome.

Houdini was near the end of his life when he visited Edinburgh in 1926. He was in his early 50s, which is just one of the reasons why the 42-year-old Guy Pearce seems miscast in the role. A global superstar, Houdini is haunted by an unresolved relationship with his dead mother and has offered a reward of $10,000 to anyone who can prove there is life beyond the grave.

Enter Scottish psychic Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta Jones) and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan). Mary is determined to get her greedy paws on the loot but then finds herself falling love with Houdini.

Death Defying Acts is the kind of cosy, undemanding production that would feel right at home on Sunday night television. The production design and cinematography lend the tale a warm, golden glow but it rarely strays from the conventional.

Young Saoirse Ronan, who was so memorable in Atonement, is less successful here as the irrepressibly impish Benji, and is saddled with endless amounts of voice-over narration explaining how all their lives would never be quite the same again. A missed opportunity all round.

Nationwide release

Director: Gillian Armstrong
Cast: Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall, Saoirse Ronan, Malcolm Shields, Leni Harper
Screenwriters: Tony Grisoni, Brian Ward
Certificate: PG
Running time: 96 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2007

© Allan Hunter, 2008