There’ll be some of you, like me, who will figure out the central twist in The Prestige long before the end credits and come away feeling disappointed; others will relish in its labyrinthine, flashback-heavy narrative, which features three simultaneous timelines and two narrators. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman star as Victoria-era magicians Alfred Borden and Robert Angier who are consistently at each other’s throats, with Robert on an obsessive quest to find out the secret behind Alfred’s mind-blowing illusion “The Transported Man”, in which he appears to transfer himself from one side of the stage to the other. Based on Christopher Priest’s novel, The Prestige, for the first half, is a fairly engrossing trip into the world of turn-of-the-century magic. But the cold misdirection of its pivotal switcheroo, and director Christopher Nolan’s uneven pacing and drab, dim-bulb cinematography suck the wonder and joy out of its subject matter. Scarlett Johansson does a so-so British turn as Robert’s assistant Olivia, while Michael Caine is his usual wise, old-mentor-ly self as magic-contraption-designer Cutter.