Rotten
All in all, it's a bit of a snore that falls back on romance when all else fails.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Death Defying Acts
Love is inescapable
2007 · 1h 37m · PG
Drama, Romance
Directed by
Gillian Armstrong
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Death Defying Acts
Overview
On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.
Director and cast
- Gillian Armstrong Director
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Mary McGarvie
- Guy Pearce as Harry Houdini
- Timothy Spall as Sugarman
- Saoirse Ronan as Benji McGarvie
- Malcolm Shields as Leith Romeo
- Leni Harper as Leith Romeo's wife
- Ralph Riach as Mr. Robertson
- Olivia Darnley as Flower Stall Seller
- Anthony O'Donnell as Oily Librarian
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
42%
Tomatometer
Rotten
Pearce's boys-adventure take on the vaudeville legend is a hoot, though not nearly as laughable as the dialogue or Zeta-Jones's pitiful attempts at basic emoting.
David Fear, Time Out New York
Fresh
What the film loses in momentum as the romance takes over, it gains in sex appeal as its two attractive actors make their own kind of magic.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Fresh
All a 'what if' movie needs to win me over are some lush costumes and production design, a smart casting choice or two, and a really ridiculous basic idea. Death Defying Acts obliges on all fronts.
Dana Stevens, Slate
Rotten
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.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
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