Clockwise from bottom, Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Woody Harrelson are about to begin a crazy, magic-infused adventure in a scene from “Now You See Me.” (Photo credit: AP photo by Summit Entertainment, LLC, Barry Wetcher, SMPSP)
‘Now You See Me’ more sleight-of-hand than actual talent
Magic has the appealing ability to draw you in without ever really doing anything. You know from the beginning there’s no such thing as magic, that it’s sleight-of-hand rather than the bending of physical law. But you want to believe the impossible is possible. Even when it involves card tricks.
However, “Now You See Me,” a magic-infused crime thriller with an outstanding cast including Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, does little to make you believe. Despite its star power and high-octane, nonstop action, “Now” fails to mystify, though you won’t know what’s going on for most of the movie. (Good thing or bad, that’s for you to decide.)
“Now,” directed by Louis Leterrier, appears on the scene in grand, Vegas showroom-like fashion. The introductory scenes are intense and fun, casting an enticing spell of anticipation as you watch the scenes unfold.
But it doesn’t take long before you find yourself baffled and lost (did someone cast the Confundus Charm?), while the script devolves into a manic stop-and-go mess. (Even magic has to make some basic sense.) Most shameful, though, is how character development just crumbles, leaving you wanting in a midst of intriguing possibilities for such an A-list cast.
You have our standard protagonists (anti-hero might work here, actually), all of them professional magicians: Eisenberg is the cocky leader of the bunch, a charming wizard who runs roughshod over his companions and enemies alike; Isla Fisher, his former assistant, excels as an escape artist; Franco is a street magician/hustler, and Harrelson works in the field of hypnotism.
Their group name? The Four Horsemen. (Nothing ominous there, right?) The foursome is introduced to us as a whole at a Vegas show, with a heist that results in the teleporting of a man to his bank in Paris. Oh, and some 3 million euros shower the audience. Talk about getting your money’s worth.
This “little” magic trick brings Ruffalo’s less-than-smiling FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes, into the fray. His partner, French Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent), is much more pleasing to be around. An odd pair, yes, but their chemistry will suffice. (Even if her belief in magic is at loggerheads with how an Interpol officer should behave.)
Rhodes and Dray then seek out to capture the Horsemen, along the way meeting up with Freeman’s Thaddeus Bradley, a former magician who now spends his time and effort debunking other magicians. (Here, at least, we see a character having a bit of fun — Freeman is clearly having himself a time providing cryptic clues and less-than-helpful advice.) Bradley’s central point is that the Paris heist was not the main event, but just a distraction for what’s to come.
His relationship with Caine’s character, the money behind the Horsemen, is snarky and entertaining. Their back-and-forth is clever and biting, just what was called for.
But besides them, and Ruffalo’s character, the rest leave you less than mesmerized. Even the final reveal, which is a whopper, doesn’t mean much when you’ve completely lost interest by this point.
And that’s a shame. For such an interesting premise and a cast more directors would kill for, “Now You See Me” should have managed to impress. Instead, you’ll just find yourself wondering where all the magic went.
Two magic-less stars out of five.
Following Silver Screening Reviews on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
Silver Screening Reviews 