Houdini isn't going to pass as fact. Actually it isn't going to pass as a truthful account. Seeing that everyone associated With Harry Houdini is long dead. this is only speculation. Entertainment if you will. Houdini is an immortal larger then life. So if you were to tell the story how would you do it ? Tell the story that might not be nearly as compelling as the Myths around Houdini. Or tell the Myths and legends that made Houdini great and immortal and a legend. Cue John ford in the man who shot Liberty Valence. When the legend becomes fact print the legend.Anyone that argues that this is incorrect or not factually based must understand one thing. Houdini in the end was a showman. This biopic tells us that over and over again. And its true. Adrian Brody is fantastic as Houdini. I am a fan of Adrian Brody's and liked his movies but this one is his best yet. People might bash him or this movie and they have no reason to. If you know anything about Houdini This movie is not going to disappoint. If you're a fan of Houdini you get a new appreciation for the man . And remember this is TV This is a movie. They are not real life. this is entertainment. and like the Great Houdini there are slight of hands tricks that'll trick you. Houdini a spy ? Houdini a womanizer Houdini a pilot Houdini a movie star and writer of pulp novels . Houdini a spiritual investigator busting fake mediums . Houdini a Mama's boy Houdini The Master escape artist and master Showman.He was all of these things and more. And if this movie isn't fact then it's fiction. And if its fiction then its entertainment. And its grand entertainment and fun.What more can you ask ?The direction is good the acting superb. and its watchable. what else are you looking for? Sit back and enjoy the greatest master escape artist that ever lived tell his story.

Harry Houdini (1874-1926) was a famous Hungarian-American escapologist- somebody who escapes from seemingly impossible combinations of locks, chains, and boxes.Houdini (Lionsgate) is a TV movie I watched for thirty-five minutes. Then I ejected it from my device and returned it to my local library.I suppose one cannot blame the writer entirely on this epic failure. The DP should also be scrutinized. This mess of a TV movie was clearly not a collaboration. Houdini appears to be several people's "ideas" who all wanted included in this film to satisfy their own individual needs and not the audiences.That being said, Lionsgate's Houdini is a terrible movie with terrible visuals and a story no one cares about. It is a movie suitable for a teenage video-gamer who hated studying history while in school, and was nursed on CSI and bad CGI.Poor Mr. Brody! So talented. Poor Mr. Houdini. This TV movie will surely make people forget him.Here's the bad: 1. The voice over. It is painfully annoying. Writers learn that voice overs should be kept to a minimum. Preferably, not used at all. Why? The actors and the visuals should tell the story. 2.The writing. There is very little compelling dialogue or action to help tell Houdini's unique story. 3. The visuals. The ones in this movie overpower the acting. The DP annoys the viewer with unnecessary slow motion, unnecessary closeups, and other unnecessary camera movements. Therefore, we do not experience - or are awed by - Houdini's physical feats, or Brody's interpretations of those feats. For example, we are shown one of those typical, typical, typical CSI shots of the inside of a lock being picked. Really? That's all you got? 4. The costumes and makeup. The costumes are clownish. The makeup overdone and not accurate. Think Rocky Horror Picture Show. 5. The music. Annoying and not appropriate for this story. Also, music is supposed to dwell in the background of the story and help set the tone. 6. The feel and tone. There is none. The turn-of-the-century is not a difficult time in history to authentically capture. Lionsgate's Houdini regurgitates way too many concepts and ideas already seen on TV and in movies that, basically, did nothing for those shows/movies, too.Again, a teenage video-gamer would probably enjoy Houdini since teenagers also regurgitate the same old same old while glued to their violent video games creating nothing new or noteworthy in their lives while sucking on the visual stimulation teat rather than the mentally stimulating teat.I doubt the screenwriter of Houdini studied adaptation. I know writers who have studied adaptation and could have done the book justice. In the business of entertainment, your d**k would appear bigger if you just tucked it back inside your pants, took a step back, and hired the right person to do the job. When you don't, well, you get Houdini (Lionsgate). You also get a super-inflated ego until the bad reviews start coming in.

This movie may not have been exactly historically correct, but I really don't care. I enjoyed finding out how Houdini did his illusions. That was very interesting. Also, while I know the real Houdini was not nearly as good looking as Adrien Brody, I thought Brody did an excellent job. The fact that he is very handsome and somewhat sexy didn't hurt. The show was extremely entertaining and I look forward to a DVD. I would watch it again. It was not touted to be an accurate documentary. The History channel had another show that did that. This was a "movie" portraying Houdini's life. I enjoyed every minute of it. I was not interested in learning all about the real Houdini, I could get books if I wanted to do that. The movie did a good enough job.

Viewed as a work of fiction this film is entertaining and worth watching. I say that as at the beginning of this picture it is made clear that the play contains fact and fiction, yet at the very end credits it is stated the movie is fiction.Yet we all surely know that Houdini was historically a most famous "escape artist" and illusionist and forerunner to the likes of David Copperfield and David Blaine.It would interesting to hear from a historian familiar with the real life Houdini to learn how accurate or otherwise this film is in its depiction of Houdini. From my knowledge much of the major incidents in the picture are factually based.Where the movie scores heavily is, firstly, that it illustrates in detail the amazing escapes and illusions performed and for the most part shows how these tricks were done. Secondly, following the death of his mother, Houdini became a skeptic of spiritualists who were all the rage during this time period, and the movie handles Houdini's contempt for that very well.The acting, direction, sets and music are all of a high quality and despite the film lasting over 2 parts @ 3-4 hours in total it had my attention throughout.Well done History Channel!7/10