Here’s a magic trick. I’ll make $10 disappear from your pocket and leave you scratching your head saying, “Huh?”

All you have to do is go see The Prestige.

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play two 19th century magicians competing with each other, violently and viciously at times. The film starts out well enough, but by the time the credits rolled, I stood up and wondered, “What the H-E-double hockey sticks just happened?”

It wasn’t how the film was put together, in a Memento style of disjointed flashbacks, that made it confusing. I was able to follow the plot pretty easily, even though there are no tell-tale signs to help you figure out which flashback you’re watching at any given moment.

And it wasn’t the plot twists either. They’re all pretty easy to figure out too.

But the ending? Well, that’s where my patience did a vanishing act.

There are basically two twist endings to this film (one is simply not enough anymore). Without giving anything away, I totally understand the first twist involving Christian Bale. In fact, I figured it out about halfway through the movie, and so did a lot of people, I’m quite sure.

It was the Hugh Jackman twist that left me scratching my head. Because unlike the Bale twist, which is revealed, the Jackman trick isn’t really explained. The implication is that real magic, or some unexplained science, may be at hand. Which is what bothers me so much.

I understand the idea of leaving it a mystery. I mean, after all, David Copperfield doesn’t tell you how he made a jet plane disappear. But the whole point of these kinds of movies IS to show the trick. That’s what we moviegoers want. It’s how filmmakers make us feel like we’re secretly in on the whole thing; especially to people who haven’t seen the movie yet.

What good would The Sixth Sense have been if you didn’t find out that Bruce Willis was a ghost?

Or if you never found out that Kevin Spacey was Kaiser Soze?

Or that Soylent Green was people?

I guess in the end, The Prestige pulled off the only trick it ever wanted. Getting my $10.

Hocus Pocus.