Juliebird is me. Those were my exact thoughts about the Prestige. I started out loving it, and was impressed by how much discussion it engendered, but I ended up not liking/caring about the characters at all.

I don't know -- I twigged to the Borden secret pretty early on in the film (not, at that point, having read the book yet), and began to separate out behavior: I think there was one magician I did really like in the film; I just didn't like his partner, and he wouldn't forsake his partner for any reason.

If there really were tells to help separate the Bordens, I didn't find it obvious which brother did what, or which died, and which pulled the trigger in the end. The fact remains that they were twisted enough to live their charade, even as it negatively impacted the women they loved, leaves both sullied in my eyes.

It should have been a moment where the story became clearer as it revealed itself fully. Not muddied with lies presented as truths to the audience.

I have not seen The Prestige yet, so I can't fully comment on it, but I know Chris Nolan (the director) likes stories about unreliable narrators. I think it's why he's done so well with the Batman franchise (and why I'm very excited about Dark Knight) -- Bats cannot be trusted to paint an honest picture of himself. Neither can the Joker.

I'm with Scola. Hated the characters and really, really hated the not-so-twisty ending.

I know Chris Nolan (the director) likes stories about unreliable narrators.

Seriously. That's what I love Nolan's movies. I don't even like magicians and I don't usually watch movies about magicians, but when I heard he directed the movie, I was first in line at the theater. Nolan does character development pretty well for most of the important characters in his movies.

Memento just slayed me and I've loved the director ever since. The movie works great playing it forward too! Just wow.

I love Memento a lot. I've never watched it played forward. I have the collector's DVD edition; does it have that feature?

It should have the option to play the movie in chronological order, IIRC.

Memento also made me a fan of Christopher Nolan.

I have the collector's DVD edition; does it have that feature?

The one where the interactive menus are presented as a series of psychological exams? Yes, it has that feature. It has lots of bonus features, but they can be difficult to find, since the entire menu system is one big, complicated easter egg.

If you want to find all the hidden features for that edition, I strongly recommend looking it up on an easter egg listing site. That's the only way I was able to operate that DVD.

And I recommend watching the movie through that way. A number of interesting questions about the film and about Leonard's story become a lot clearer when you watch the film in linear order.

I know Chris Nolan (the director) likes stories about unreliable narrators

that probably explains the presence of the scene that irked me. I mean, character-wise, I think it worked, but as a finish for the movie, not so much for this here gal.