The opening night selection for this year’s Seattle International Film Festival is the Illusionist [siff]. In comparison to previous kick off films, it is substantially better than the Notebook (2004’s selection), and pales in comparison to Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005). This statement, I realize, is nearly meaningless since the former was cliche-ridden insulting syrup and the latter was a deliriously original achievement.

The Illusionist stars people that you probably love (Paul Giamatti, Ed Norton, and Jessica Biel) and is based on a novel written by a Pulitzer Prize wInner (Millhauser). It is about Eisenheim (Norton), the peasant son of a furniture maker whose childhood romance with a dutchess (Biel) is broken up when they’re teenagers.

After they’re dragged apart by the aristocracy appropriateness police, he runs off to join the circus hone his amateur magic skills by traveling the world. We meet him late in the story in early twentieth century Vienna. He sits on a stage of a rundown theater, sweating before an enthralled audience. As he performs an illusion — we won’t see it until later — the crowd gasps and the Chief Inspector (Giamatti) unleashes the large assembly of police officers to arrest him.

The majority of the story unfolds through narrated flashbacks as the Inspector debriefs the Crown Prince on what’s known about the magician. We find out about the idyllic forbidden romance, the separation, and Eisenheim’s return to Vienna to perform seemingly supernatural feats. The quality of the illusions quickly draws high level attention, including the prince who happens to be courting Eisenheim’s onetime sweetheart. She and Eisenheim reunite when the prince volunteers her as a prop in one of his early performances.From this set-up, we can see where this is going: the prince has engagement and world domination on his mind; the magician believes in true love and stands in his way; and the inspector is stuck in the middle trying to decide whether he identifies with the working class hero or should play his cards right to climb the ranks. Fascination, skepticism, rivalry, and cat & mouse games ensue. When the nature of Eisenheim’s illusion change, he becomes more of threat to the prince’s ambition and the stakes are raised.

The story is essentially fairy tale, with nice visual effects, and a few interesting twists and turns. The actors, in Masterpiece Theater outfits, funny mustaches, and not-quite there Austrian accents, are competent, but like the Phillip Glass score that accompanies it, the whole thing feels just a little bit too constructed. Still, there’s enough fun to be had in the illusions and whodunit elements that it is mostly entertaining throughout. It probably won’t steal your heart, but it’s an adequate opening night selection. Whether it is worth your $50 depends on who’s paying and how much you like to go to galas.

And don’t worry if you can’t figure out all of the tricks, they’re all revealed in the end.

(plays 25 May, 7:00 PM at the Paramount Theatre)