Houdini (2014)
Genre: Drama
Duration:
152 minuten (mini series, 2 parts)
Country:
Canada
Directed by: Uli Edel
Stars: Adrien Brody, Kristen Connolly and Evan Jones
IMDb score:
7,3 (13.109)
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Reviews & comments
Theunissen
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- 12281 messages
- 5520 votes
Great mini-series about the life of Harry Houdini, aka the escape king, which I saw on the television channel Film 1.
Harry Houdini as the escape king (especially when he is handcuffed) is of course no stranger, but in this miniseries you will learn some interesting facts about him (including that he was a spy for America during the start of the First World War). Whether it all really happened or is fiction, that is left to the viewer and is also shown at the start of the series. In any case, I found this miniseries interesting and the story also managed to captivate me and sometimes it was even a bit exciting. It was also fun to see how he did all the escapes (actually quite simple) and Harry Houdini also always simply admitted that everything was a trick and that he was in fact just a liar. In his eyes, magicians are the best liars in the world.
The execution of the story was done well (it all looked visually beautiful) and that is mainly due to Adrien Brody who plays the role of Harry Houdini very well (although he didn't look like him at all). Kristen Connolly in the role of Bess Houdini also played well. How Harry Houdini met his end (at the age of 52) is quite tragic, but according to this mini-series it is mainly his own fault because he regularly let himself be hit in the stomach (among others by Rasputin 
) to show how strong his abdominal muscles are. According to this mini-series it was fatal for him, but if you search on the internet this is disputed and dismissed as unbelievable.
All in all, this is just a great mini-series that is easy to watch and at about 2.5 hours (the first part about 1.5 hours and the second part about 1 hour) is also doable.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Johan24
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- 101 messages
- 5562 votes
Not particularly impressed. It feels like the film wants to go through life like a TGV. Major theatres around the world pass by where Harry pulls trick after trick out of his hat. The annoying thing about this, I found, was that you see 'the truth' behind every trick, which kind of detracts from the myth surrounding him. It goes off the rails here and there and there is not enough focus on building up tension.
A big biopic about Houdini could be worth it, but this was too much in too short a time. Oh yeah, I hated the music.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Gerlof78
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- 759 messages
- 566 votes
Beautiful and especially atmospheric mini-series with a starring role for Adrian Brody, the rest of the cast also plays well. The story is told well and remains doable for the entire session of almost 3 hours. The part where Houdini did spy things is of course a separate story, and I didn't think it really fit into the story but it was done well. Well, you have to have something to complain about, don't you ha, for the rest worth a viewing I say.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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