Movies: Now You See Me

My blog is never going to be known for its movie reviews.  Between the family members on the autism spectrum who hate crowds, and our rural location, going to a movie in a theater is an *event*.  And very rare.  But I had to share my thoughts on the movie I watched on DVD last night, "Now You See Me".

The friends I've made since high school don't know this, but I used to be a magician's assistant in junior and senior high.  Every year our high school put on a Madrigal dinner.  To be honest, I didn't pay attention enough to know if it was a fundraising effort for the drama department, the school in general, or just a tradition for a fun evening of theater.  What I do know is that our magic act would perform at it every year, and did side gigs for other schools and children's events.  I never got paid, I did it for the fun.  And it *was* a lot of fun.

So when I saw a trailer recently for "Now You See Me" I was enthralled, and knew I had to see this film.  Finally magic was once again the focus of the media... and not in a gross, Chris Angel, in-your-face kind of way.  It was a subject of wonder, excitement, and enchantment once again.  Yeah, they made it sexier with bank heists and crime, but it looked like it was celebrating magic in a way I could approve of.

I was not disappointed.  It did celebrate the wonder and theater of good magic acts, but it had more.  There were threads of misdirection in the plot, a tale of revenge (or two), a love story, death and resurrection, Robin Hood hijinks, a secret society, and humor.  Sure, some of the special effects were CGI instead of practical, and some of the twists and turns of the plot were a little heavy-handed, but I'd like to think even Shakespeare would have approved of the story.

The acting was very good.  Mark Ruffalo (does that man *ever* shave?) as the rumpled, reluctant FBI guy, Michael Caine as the elegant financier, and Morgan Freeman as the experienced magic-debunker all gave their usual stellar performances.  My only disappointment was the french Interpol agent, as her accent made her difficult to understand in spots.  It was a French director, I suppose he didn't realize.

I think if they had managed some of the stage effects with practical (physical) effects, rather than computer imagery, I would have considered this the perfect movie.  As it is, I only consider it to be a shade below five stars.