Death Defying Acts

Times are tough for theatrical performer Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) for in her psychic stage act that she performs in Edinburgh with her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) for all the scamming they do to secure the necessary information to put one over on their audiences, the theatres close and the two are left to live in the caretaker's house in a cemetery. When Mary discovers that the great Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) is touring the Scottish Iles and will do a show in Edinburgh she is interested in meeting him, especially since the great magician has advertised that he will give $10,000 dollars to the person who can connect to the spiritual world. Houdini has spent the last few years uncovering all the fake mentalist he has met to communicate with his dead mother. He is carrying guilt at not being present when his mother died and when he meets Mary at an audition he his struck by how much she looks like his departed mom. Mary and Benji spend many days with Houdini and his manager Mr. Sugarman (Timothy Spall) trying to discover personal facts that they can use to convincingly present some séance for the great Houdini, but Mary and Harry fall in love and the emotional connection changes between them.