Film Review: Story of ‘Now You See Me’ a Bit Misdirected

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CHICAGO – Boasting a big star ensemble cast, and themes of magical realism and misdirection, “Now You See Me” is an overdone, too-clever-for-its-own-good fantasy with some entertaining tricks. Jesse Eisenberg and Isla Fisher join veterans Woody Harrelson and Morgan Freeman in the magic mix.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Since the main action centers on big time magicians – think David Copperfield – there are many opportunities to show off the sleight of hand. What could be definitively magical becomes redundant and tedious, as one trick becomes another becomes another. The film wants to be forgiven for this because the reason It’s doing all this tricky misdirection is all about being noble and avenging, but the reaction is opposite – as in fool me once, shame on me, keep fooling around, shame on a sloppy story. Although the individual tricks have some entertainment to them, it is not enough to sustain the glut of “ta-dah” moments that are sweated out in the end, which keeps piling on more endings until it can’t anymore, with a voice over narration that is basically saying “we can do whatever we want, we’re magicians.”

Four performing magicians – showy Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), gutsy Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), streetwise Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) – are called together to a mysterious New York City address, where they experience a baptism of sorts. This results in a team up to become “The Four Horseman,” a quartet act of prestidigitation that is part arrogance and part large scale magic tricks, and are financed by a millionaire named Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine).

There first big trick involves robbing a Paris bank. This gets an FBI agent named Dylan (Mark Ruffalo) and French Interpol officer Alma (Mélanie Laurent) involved in the arrest of the magicians, aided by a TV host named Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), whose specialty is exposing magician secrets. This begins a cat-and-mouse game, as the quartet is released to complete its magical trick cycle. Who stays ahead of who, and why they are doing what they do is intertwined with the magician’s finest prop – the art of misdirection.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Now You See Me”

The Four: Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Woody Harrelson in ‘Now You See Me’ Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Now You See Me”