by Lorie Lewis Ham
Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.
I enjoy caper movies. While there are a multitude out there, my tastes tend to lean toward those with just a bit of a light edge to them like Oceans 11 and the recently released on DVD Now You See Me. When I began seeing the trailers for Now You See Me, I really wanted to see it. It appeared to be a caper movie with a different sort of twist–magic. Unfortunately, with my crazy year I never made it to see this one on the big screen, so when it came out this week on DVD it was at the top of my list to rent.
Now You See Me starts out introducing four different magicians at different points in their careers–all pretty much down on their luck. We have a cocky street magician, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg); his form assistant Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), whose solo act focuses on gory stunts; a once famous mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), who now uses cold reading and hypnosis to shake people down for cash; and sleight of hand artist Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), who makes his money as a pickpocket. A hooded stranger brings them all together slipping them each a Tarot card with a place to meet. At the meeting the stranger is absent, but they find an elaborate magic trick that they can’t resist coming together to accomplish.
We jump ahead a year and the four now have a headlining act in Vegas as the Four Horsemen. Their big finale involves a bank robbery. The magicians are brought in for questioning by the FBI and here we are introduced to an agent named Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), and Interpol detective Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). Unable to prove the Horsemen pulled off the crime they have to let them go, but Rhodes is determined to find out what really happened and turns to former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who now makes his money from debunking magic acts, for help.
Rhodes comes off through much of the movie as the old style bumbling detective who just can’t seem to do anything right and doesn’t believe in magic, or really in anything. Dray is an intelligent young woman who has a strong belief in magic and the unexplained.
To explain any more of the plot would give too much away so I leave the rest for you to discover. This movie relies heavily on flash, charm, over the top characters, and the chase–which basically takes place for most of the rest of the movie as the team goes on to even more unbelievable heists. While some aspects of the story are a bit unrealistic, they work because this is a movie of magic and tricks so you are expected to suspend your disbelief.
This is a fun, flashy caper movie with a great cast and a perfect shocker ending I did not see coming! So go rent a copy of Now You See Me for some fun viewing and leave your skepticism at home. This is after all magic!
You can also use this link to purchase your own copy of Now You See Me & a portion goes to help keep KRL going:
Now You See Me is of course not currently playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6, but several other movies are. Showtimes can be found on their website. Platinum Theaters Dinuba 6 now proudly presents digital quality films in 2-D and 3-D with 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound to maximize your movie experience.
Print this coupon and enjoy a special discount for Kings River Life readers only!
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