She seems to enjoy playing the tricks, but she and Pearce have zero romantic chemistry together resulting in the feeling that she was miscast.

Zeta-Jones is adequate in her role as the conspiring psychic out to make a better life for her and her daughter. Houdini is a showman to his public but tormented out of the public eye and Pearce does display a handsome range to deal with this complicated array of emotions. After tackling Andy Warhol it's now Houdini that appeals to him. Guy Pearce is a phenomenal actor and it seems finds no character a challenge. Production values for the film are very attractive and capture the time of the setting admirably. Mary manages to charm the unsuspecting magician, but as they spend more and more time together, Sugarman intervenes, trying to prevent Houdini from becoming entangled with Mary, of whom he is suspicious. Their only obstacle is Houdini's protective manager, Sugarman (Timothy Spall). She conducts psychic acts that pull in the public while Benji surreptitiously gathers information on members of the audience - information Mary uses to con them into believing they can reach out to their deceased loved ones. Mary makes ends meet by being quite the performer herself. The escapologist offers $10,000 to anyone who can make contact with his deceased mother and prove they are the real deal by revealing her last words to him - enter Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) a con-artist and her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan), who set their sights on his reward. It is 13 years after his mother's death which has left him devastated and Houdini feels he has yet to gain closure after her passing. It follows the adventures of one Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) a famous escape artist on tour in the 1920s. Death Defying Acts arrives in cinemas to follow last years slew of magician themed movies and has been hyped as being the next Prestige.

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