Death Defying Acts 2007
5.8 / 10
Death Defying Acts
On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.
On a tour of Britain in 1926, Harry Houdini enters into a passionate affair with a psychic out to con the famous magician.
Videos & Photos
All 1 Videos & 6 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Mary McGarvie
... Harry Houdini
... Sugarman
... Benji McGarvie
... Leith Romeo
... Leith Romeo's wife
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews23 Jun 2021 by John Chard
Houdini Affairs of the Heart and Head. Death Defying Acts is directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Tony Grisoni and Brian Ward. It stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall and Saoirse Ronan. Music is by Cezary Skubiszewski and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos. Not a biopic of Harry Houdini, but an episode in his life, Death Defying Acts (a bum steer of a title) is lukewarm across the board. Story charts the years after the death of Houdini’s mother, where he travels to 1920s Edinburgh and falls in with Psychic Tricksters Mary (Jones) and Benji McGarvie (Ronan), a mother and daughter team who spy an opportunity to prise a cash reward offered by the great escapologist. What is intended to be a searching examination of Houdini, his mental fragility, hang-ups, strengths and etc, just plays out as a romantic period piece lacking vim and vigour. Pearce works hard as Houdini but never gets to grasp the tormented angle of the man, while Jones is miscast and not even her pretty face can light up a dull performance. Ronan is sprightly enough and Spall shows some emotive verve as Houdini’s concerned manager. The moments of trickery perk things up a bit, but even then the makers think it’s wise to debunk the mysticism. The romanticism of the era, and that of Houdini’s place in it, is well crafted onto the screen, but the flatness and confused thematic threads elsewhere leave this well below average. 4/10
Directors:
Release Date:
Sep 13, 2007 (Australia,United Kingdom,United States)
Run Time:
1hr 37`
MMPA Rating:
PG
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
Australia,United Kingdom,United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
Death Defying Acts
Houdini Affairs of the Heart and Head. Death Defying Acts is directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Tony Grisoni and Brian Ward. It stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall and Saoirse Ronan. Music is by Cezary Skubiszewski and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos. Not a biopic of Harry Houdini, but an episode in his life, Death Defying Acts (a bum steer of a title) is lukewarm across the board. Story charts the years after the death of Houdini’s mother, where he travels to 1920s Edinburgh and falls in with Psychic Tricksters Mary (Jones) and Benji McGarvie (Ronan), a mother and daughter team who spy an opportunity to prise a cash reward offered by the great escapologist. What is intended to be a searching examination of Houdini, his mental fragility, hang-ups, strengths and etc, just plays out as a romantic period piece lacking vim and vigour. Pearce works hard as Houdini but never gets to grasp the tormented angle of the man, while Jones is miscast and not even her pretty face can light up a dull performance. Ronan is sprightly enough and Spall shows some emotive verve as Houdini’s concerned manager. The moments of trickery perk things up a bit, but even then the makers think it’s wise to debunk the mysticism. The romanticism of the era, and that of Houdini’s place in it, is well crafted onto the screen, but the flatness and confused thematic threads elsewhere leave this well below average. 4/10
Cast & Crew of
Death Defying Acts
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Mary McGarvie
... Harry Houdini
... Sugarman
... Benji McGarvie
... Leith Romeo
... Leith Romeo's wife
... Mr. Robertson
... Flower Stall Seller
... Oily Librarian
BM
Billy McColl... McTavish
JH
James Holmes... Ugly Mug
... Rose
... Ventriloquist
... Doctor
...
TC
Tom Cotcher...
CR
Carol Robb...
PG
Paul Grunert...
Produced By
Videos & Photos of
Death Defying Acts
Videos ( 1)
Photos ( 6 )
Related Movies To
Death Defying Acts
Ice Road: Vengeance (2025)
0 /10
Big rig ice road driver Mike McCann travels to Nepal to scatter his late brother’s ashes on Mt. Everest. While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 ft. terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, McCann and his mountain guide encounter a group of mercenaries and must fight to save themselves, the busload of innocent travelers, and the local villagers’ homeland.
Run Time: 1hr 53` . MMPA: R . Release: 27 Jun 2025
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Producer: Shivani Rawat , John Leonetti , Eugene Musso
Stars: Liam Neeson , Fan Bingbing , Marcus Thomas , Mahesh Jadu , Bernard Curry , Michala Banas
F1 (2025)
0 /10
Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory.
Run Time: 2hr 36` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 25 Jun 2025
Director: Toby Hefferman , Donald E G Bentley , Gary Powell
Producer: Lewis Hamilton , Alessandro Minisola , George Alvarezzo
Stars: Brad Pitt , Damson Idris , Kerry Condon , Tobias Menzies , Lewis Hamilton , Javier Bardem
The Twisters (2024)
0 /10
A deadly patchwork of destructive cyclones is on an apocalyptic path of convergence at a populated Midwest city center. There, the twisters will merge into one mega tornado that threatens to obliterate the cities for hundreds of miles around.
Run Time: 1hr 27` . MMPA: . Release: 28 Jun 2024
Director: Michael Su
Producer: David Michael Latt , Ryan Ebert , James Mahoney
Stars: Kayla Fields , Mark Justice , Paul Logan , Curtis Strong , Tiffany , Sofia Riba
Breathing In (2023)
0 /10
1901, South Africa. As the Second Anglo-Boer War rages on, a wounded General seeks refuge in the small home of a woman and her young daughter. As the hurt man settles in, he begins noticing that something is off about the two women, particularly the daughter, and before long, he’ll learn the real reason for why they’ve invited him and for how they’ve survived on their own for so long.
Run Time: 1hr 45` . MMPA: . Release: 18 Oct 2023
Director: Jaco Bouwer
Producer:
Stars: Michele Burgers , Sven Ruygrok , Jamie-Lee Money , Lionel Newton
STRAW (2025)
0 /10
What will be her last straw? A devastatingly bad day pushes a hardworking single mother to the breaking point — and into a shocking act of desperation.
Run Time: 1hr 45` . MMPA: R . Release: 05 Jun 2025
Director: Kyler Griffin , Derrick Doose , Marcus Wiley
Producer: Tyler Perry , Tony Strickland , Andy Norman
Stars: Taraji P. Henson , Sherri Shepherd , Teyana Taylor , Sinbad , Rockmond Dunbar , Ashley Versher
Life After Fighting (2024)
0 /10
Retired martial arts world champion Alex Faulkner has settled into a simple life, when the disappearance of two of his students leads to an unthinkable discovery close to home. Just when all hope of finding the children is lost, he locates the imprisoned girls and unsurfaces an international child trafficking operation, which draws him back into the fight of his life against those behind it.
Run Time: 2hr 6` . MMPA: . Release: 07 Jun 2024
Director: Bren Foster
Producer: Navid Bahadori , Chelsea Jean Foster , Bren Foster
Stars: Bren Foster , Cassie Howarth , Luke Ford , Annabelle Stephenson , Anthony Nassif , Arielle Jean Foster
The Secret Path (1999)
7.5 /10
14-year-old Jo Ann Foley lives in squalor in a rural Southern community during World War II. Abused by her bootlegging grandfather Hank, Jo Ann has, like her mother Marie, been forced into a life of prostitution. Periodically escaping her miserable existence, Jo Ann finds comfort, security, and genuine love with a poor but proud African American couple: Honey and Too Tall.
Run Time: 1hr 38` . MMPA: . Release: 02 Apr 1999
Director: Patricia Joyes , Bruce Pittman
Producer: Franklin Lett , Robert Greenwald , Kimberly Rubin
Stars: Della Reese , Ossie Davis , Crystal Bernard , Madeline Zima , Yvonne Zima , Ron White
Real Gangsters (2013)
7.2 /10
Real Gangsters tells the story of the Lo Giacamo family, one of the most successful crime syndicates in New York City. Run by cousins Vincent Lo Giacamo and Jack Lo Giacamo, Real Gangsters shows how these two men maintain control of their dangerous extended family and volatile business ventures by very different means.
Run Time: 1hr 28` . MMPA: . Release: 01 Jun 2013
Director: Frank D'Angelo
Producer:
Stars: Robert Loggia , John Savage , Steven Bauer , Margot Kidder , Nick Mancuso , Michael Paré
Bloomington (2010)
5.8 /10
A former child actress attends college in search of independence and ends up becoming romantically involved with a female professor. Their relationship thrives until an opportunity to return to acting forces her to make life-altering decisions.
Run Time: 1hr 23` . MMPA: . Release: 23 Jun 2010
Director: Rachel Rose , Derek W. Tow , Conor Byron
Producer: Jason Shumway , Marx Pyle , Nathan Dynak
Stars: Allison McAtee , Sarah Stouffer , Katherine Ann McGregor , Ray Zupp , J. Blakemore , Erika Heidewald
Karate Kid: Legends (2025)
0 /10
After a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
Run Time: 1hr 34` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 08 May 2025
Director: Peng Zhang , Richard Graves , Shanna Roberts Salée
Producer: Jenny Hinkey , Ralph Macchio , Karen Rosenfelt
Stars: Jackie Chan , Ralph Macchio , Ben Wang , Joshua Jackson , Sadie Stanley , Ming-Na Wen
Never Back Down: No Surrender (2016)
6.3 /10
Picking up after the events of Never Back Down 2, former MMA champion Case Walker is on the comeback trail to become champion once again.
Run Time: 1hr 41` . MMPA: R . Release: 07 Jun 2016
Director: Larnell Stovall , Michael Jai White
Producer: David Zelon , Craig Baumgarten
Stars: Michael Jai White , Josh Barnett , Gillian White , Nathan Jones , Damian Mavis , Aaron Brumfield
Shadow Force (2025)
0 /10
Kyrah and Isaac were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they go underground. With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family's fight becomes all-out war.
Run Time: 1hr 43` . MMPA: R . Release: 01 May 2025
Director: Paulo Orellana , Jayson Merrill , Tim Trella
Producer: Carlos Rey del Castillo , Gustavo Borbon , Karen Ramirez
Stars: Mark Strong , Kerry Washington , Omar Sy , Da'Vine Joy Randolph , Method Man , Ed Quinn