Death Defying Acts is a
2008The year 2008 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
romanticWhile most films have some aspect of romance between characters a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic...
thriller. The film (a UK-Australian co-production directed by
Gillian ArmstrongGillian Armstrong is an award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries.- Career :Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Gillian Armstrong grew up in the eastern suburb of Mitcham. She graduated from Swinburne Technical College in 1968 where she studied theatrical costume design and...
and starring
Guy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor and musician, perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of anterograde amnesia victim Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, his performance as Lieutenant Ed Exley in the film L.A...
and
Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta Jones is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of...
) follows the
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
escapologist
Harry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer...
in the height of his career in the 1920s.
In 1926, thirteen years after his mother's death, Harry Houdini (
Guy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor and musician, perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of anterograde amnesia victim Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, his performance as Lieutenant Ed Exley in the film L.A...
) regrets that he wasn't present at his mother's side when she died. He offers $10,000 to anyone that can help him contact his deceased mother and reveal her last words.
Impoverished and uneducated Scottish con artist Mary McGarvie (
Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta Jones is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of...
) and her daughter Benji (
Saoirse RonanSaoirse Ronan is an Irish actress. She is the eleventh youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award and the seventh youngest to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Ronan received multiple award nominations for her role as the young Briony Tallis in the film Atonement...
) set their sights on Houdini's reward.
Death Defying Acts is a
2008The year 2008 in film saw many new films released worldwide, including several major mainstream sequels, prequels, and remakes as well as original films.-Top grossing films:...
supernaturalThe term supernatural or supranatural pertains to an order of existence beyond the scientifically visible universe. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, the belief that there is an afterlife for the dead, and innumerable others...
romanticWhile most films have some aspect of romance between characters a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot revolves around the romantic involvement of the story's protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic...
thriller. The film (a UK-Australian co-production directed by
Gillian ArmstrongGillian Armstrong is an award-winning Australian director of feature films and documentaries.- Career :Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Gillian Armstrong grew up in the eastern suburb of Mitcham. She graduated from Swinburne Technical College in 1968 where she studied theatrical costume design and...
and starring
Guy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor and musician, perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of anterograde amnesia victim Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, his performance as Lieutenant Ed Exley in the film L.A...
and
Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta Jones is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of...
) follows the
HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
escapologist
Harry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer...
in the height of his career in the 1920s.
Plot
In 1926, thirteen years after his mother's death, Harry Houdini (
Guy PearceGuy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated actor and musician, perhaps best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of anterograde amnesia victim Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, his performance as Lieutenant Ed Exley in the film L.A...
) regrets that he wasn't present at his mother's side when she died. He offers $10,000 to anyone that can help him contact his deceased mother and reveal her last words.
Impoverished and uneducated Scottish con artist Mary McGarvie (
Catherine Zeta-JonesCatherine Zeta Jones is a Welsh actress, currently based in the United States. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of UK and US television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as The Phantom, The Mask of...
) and her daughter Benji (
Saoirse RonanSaoirse Ronan is an Irish actress. She is the eleventh youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award and the seventh youngest to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Ronan received multiple award nominations for her role as the young Briony Tallis in the film Atonement...
) set their sights on Houdini's reward. Mary's psychic act pulls in the public: Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience, information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones.
Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman (
Timothy SpallTimothy Leonard Spall OBE is a BAFTA award-nominated English actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London; his father, Joe, was a postal worker, and his mother, Sylvia, a hairdresser...
). Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious.
After Sugarman offers Mary money to flee the scene, she explodes into something far more dangerous. As Houdini prepares for his most death defying stunt, the audience is intrigued about how he'll make his escape.
Sugarman's main desire is to see Mary and Benji gone; they claim they will be gone for good once they secure the reward for finding out what Houdini's mother said to him on her death bed. Sugarman realizes he can't get rid of them as easily as he had hoped. Mary is caught trying to open Houdini's chest and covers up by saying she was just searching for something to channel the psychic energy of the deceased.
Benji gets the key to the chest from Sugarman. When Mary and Benji fail to turn up any useful information, they turn again to Sugarman. He tells them that Houdini was out doing a show and missed seeing his mother before she died. When the time comes, Mary is unable to perform the experiment and attempts to leave. At this point Benji starts having a fit on the ground and claims to be channeling Houdini's mother on her death bed, uttering the words of the Kadish and then - addressing Houdini as "Ehrich" which was his original name, and speaking partly in German and partly in German-accented English asking where he is, and why he isn't with her. This could be interpreted as either a genuine
seanceA séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
or a very skillful and convincing impersonation by the young artist. Houdini then leaves, ashamed because a note he wrote to confirm the veracity of the experiment was removed and revealed to be blank.
The McGarvies are rewarded the $10,000. Mary is disgruntled because she believes Harry doesn't love her as she perceived. When he says he does, they become romantically involved before Houdini embarks on another set of world tours. During his travels, he's climbing a set of stairs when a "Red-Haired Prankster" punches him in the stomach while he wasn't ready and ruptures his appendix and kills him.
Production
The film was shot on location in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It is the second largest Scottish city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas....
, and at
Pinewood StudiosPinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. Approximately west of Central London on what was the estate of Heatherden Hall, the studios were created in 1934 by Charles Boot and built within 12 months by the Henry Boot Company of Sheffield. Boot drew his...
,
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
, produced by Myriad Pictures and is being distributed by
The Weinstein CompanyThe Weinstein Company is an independent American film studio founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 2005 after the pair left the Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
. Guy Pearce spent six weeks learning Houdini's tricks from magician
Ross SkiffingtonRoss Skiffington is a New Zealand-born Australian magician, actor, and theatrical director, who has received two lifetime achievement awards for his contributions to magic.- Biography :...
. Magic consultant for the film was English magician
Scott PenroseScott Penrose is an English magician and magic consultant and is the son of magician John Penrose.Scott is the Chairman of The Magic Circle Council and a Gold Star member of the Inner Magic Circle He was awarded the title, The Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year in 2000.He also works as a...
.
Box office
Death Defying Acts earned $2,839,345 at the
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
box office, $800,505 in
South KoreaSouth Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often simply referred to as Korea, is a country in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest...
, $655,731 in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and $608,455 in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Globally the film took $6,415,141. The film was on a very limited release in larger markets such as the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- resulting in very low box office takings there.
External links