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The miniature orange tree that grows from a seed to produce full sized fruit? The trained butterflies carrying a handkerchief? The ghostly, transparent people walking from the stage and into the audience? Painfully and clearly CGI effects. Lovely, but not true stage illusions.
Edward Norton may have trained to do some sleight of hand, but I can't even recall seeing him perform any in the film. And one doesn't need much training to stand next to a large stage illusion as it takes place.
This might not detract from most people's enjoyment of the film, but I'm a big fan of good sleight of hand and complex stage illusions. I would much rather have seen the filmmakers actually reproduce some turn of the century stage illusions for the camera rather than resort to the impossible CGI creations.
