I liked Bale's and Jackman's performances a lot. they made the movie. Caine was solid as usual. Scarlett was just kind of there, which is better than being distractingly bad.

like everyone said, the Fallon part is pretty obvious but I was a bit surprised by the clones at the end. I forgot about that part of the machine.

I usually don't go for these 6th Sense endings, but the meat of the movie is the two magician's rivalry and how their obsessions kind of ruin both their lives...opposed to other movies where the "secret" is the entire buildup of the movie.

I really dug the whole premise with magic as art, with total dedication and real risks involved. and they're right - nobody cares after they find out the secret. it's better not knowing.

Zoo was also right, that beginning scene and line *does* explain the entire movie.