In Venice, the son of a cabinetmaker and Sophie, a young countess fall in love, but are forced to stop seeing each other. The young man goes on a world tour and learns to be a master magician. Years later he returns to Venice and goes on stage as Eisenheim. His act creates a sensation, and Crown Prince Leopold and brings his fiancée, Sophie. When Leopold volunteers her to go on stage, the old lovers reconnect. Sophie determines to go away with Eisenheim. Leopold orders Chief Inspector Uhl to arrest the magician and keep him away from Sophie until after the wedding.

When Sophie informs Leopold that she has no intention of marrying him, he stabs her with his sword (or so we're led to believe). Eisenheim demands that Uhl arrest Leopold, but Uhl is Leopold’s stooge. The magician puts on a stage show which appears to bring people back from the dead. Sophie’s ghost appears on stage and allows the crowd to draw the inference the Leopold killed her. Uhl shuts down Eisenheim’s act, but the magician disappears before he can be arrested.

Uhl starts putting together clues that point to Leopold as the murderer of Sophie. He writes to the Emperor. When troops come to arrest Leopold, the crown prince commits suicide. But then Uhl realizes that Sophie was never killed. It was all an illusion by Eisenheim to get rid of Leopold and marry Sophie.

Good atmosphere and settings, but I thought it was miscast. Jessica Biel didn’t have enough allure for her role, and Edward Norton’s accent kept slipping. Giamatti was good, but didn’t have enough presence. Still, it was entertaining and I gave it a 7.