The last movie that I saw featuring a magician as the protagonist was The Incredible Burt Wonderstone; a comedy that wasn’t funny and wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Now You See Me is a whole lot better. It’s not an apples to apples to comparison because while the former set up as a schlocky joke fest, the latter is a caper film wrapped up in deception and misdirection. Still, Now You See Me is a fun fast-paced film that combines deception and good comedic relief with grand chase scenes to ensure that the tone of the rapidly paced film remains light.
The plot of this movies features a strong ensemble cast in Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco portraying a quartet of magicians who have been brought together to perform the ultimate set of illusions; illusions that seemingly involve the robbery of institutions. Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent portray two agent charged with bringing the quartet to justice. Along the way, they repeated find themselves butting heads with Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) – a former magician who makes a living revealing the secrets of his peers.
As you can see from the synopsis, there is a lot going on in this movie; a series of threads that comprise this narrative. A lot of credit has to go to director Louis Leterrier for bringing these threads together in a way to tell a comprehensive story. At no point does the movie feel like it’s gone askew or sacrificed pacing to flesh out one of these plot lines, so kudos to him for maintaining that balance. Likewise, a lot of credit has to go to writer Ed Solomon (writer and inspiration for Chuck DeNomoles from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) for crafting a fun narrative. I have no doubt that upon closer inspection, the plot has many holes, but like a magician Solomon’s script utilizes some slight of hand and misdirection to entertain.
Ultimately, the biggest strength of this movie though has to be the ensemble cast. It’s a group of actors who for the most part are very accomplished and are clearly having fun with what the source material. Here is how each fared:
Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas is the defacto lead of the film, though it never truly feels that way. Eisenberg sticks to his usual twitchy performance with staccato delivery but it works as a control-freak-of-a-magician. Say what you want about his range, but Eisenberg has the smug, holier-than-thou act down to a science and that lends a serious layer of credibility to his character. What makes his performance pop is the complimentary work of Woody Harrelson as mentalist Merrit McKinny. Harrelson is flip, sarcastic, and sleezey – the comic relief to Eisenberg’s OCD vibe. Harrelson always shines in this capacity, as the wildcard supporting player, and his work here is no exception.
Rounding out the criminal quartet are Isla Fisher and Dave Franco. I like Fisher a lot as an actress, but liked her a bit less in this film. Of the entire cast, her turn was the least believable. It doesn’t mean that she was terrible as she did share strong chemistry with Eisenberg and Harrelson, but there are distinct points in the movie where her scenes fewl lacking. As for Franco, he is satisfactory and nothing more. He’s looks and feels like a junior version of his brother and I suspect that his casting was more a stunt to broaden the target audience than anything else.
As for the cops’ side of the equations, I really enjoyed the performance of Melanie Laurent. She is tasked with the most difficult role; that of an Interpol agent who is a believer in magic and mystic myth. It’s not an easy line to toe for a movie that attempts steep itself in realism, but she does it with a nice touch. It helps that she shares good chemistry with Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Dlyan Rhodes. While it wasn’t one of my favorite Ruffalo performances, he does a good job of pulling off the embattled agent vibe. He is grizzled, angry, and obsessed, which is precisely what the script calls for. While his work falls apart a bit for me at the end, Ruffalo does enough good in this movie to keep the proverbial line moving.
As for the rest of the cast, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman could go back and forth reading entries from WebMD and make it entertaining without breaking a sweat and that’s what it feels like they are doing in this film. Are they giving it their all? Probably not. But are they entertaining? Yes. Also lending a hand in the narrative are Common and Michael Kelly as FBI Agents. Their respective performances certainly won’t make their highlight reels, but in very limited screen time they do a nice job of making the film that much better.
Despite all the platitudes, I don’t think it is a perfect film, and I’m sure that people with too much time on their hands could probably go in and pick at some plot holes and logic leaps. Still, the film is fast, fun, and entertaining. That’s a good trifecta of qualities for any movie to have. I would not run out and purchase the DVD because it will not hold up for multiple viewings, but I would definitely recommend this as a rental. Not every film has to change your life, tell an epic story based on historical events, or set up a franchise. Some can just provide you with amusement for two hours of your life and Now You See Me is precisely that kind of movie.
Standout Performance: Woody Harrelson. Good actor with great comedic timing and it shows well in this movie.
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