Skip to content
PAUL'S TRIP TO THE MOVIES
Primary Navigation Menu
Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • The Archives
  • Interviews with the Cast and Crew
  • “HALLOWEEN” RETROSPECTIVE – 40 Years of Terror
  • EVERYBODY IS STILL A SUSPECT: A LOOK BACK AT SCREAM
  • THE DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE
  • The Bond, James Bond Challenge
  • MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
  • Home
  • MY DEFINITIVE RANKING OF BATMAN ON THE BIG SCREEN

Movie Review: NOW YOU SEE ME

By Paul McGuire Grimes
On May 28, 2013
In Movie Reviews
Tagged Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Now You See Me, Woody Harrelson

NOW YOU SEE ME
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Mélanie Laurent


Magic comes in a variety of forms each appealing to a different kind of crowd. J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) is your fast-talking brainiac who performs your standard set of card tricks. Merritt McKinley (Harrelson) pulls out unsuspecting people from a crowd and gets them to divulge life secrets as a mentalist. Jack Wilder (Franco) makes his living by doing sleight of hand tricks. He may end off ripping people off and stealing their money in the process. Henley Leeves (Fisher) pulls off the death-defying stunts as an illusionist.

All four of them are targeted and are given vague instructions to meet in a secret location. The world of magicians must be small as they all know each other or know of each others reputations. When they each arrive and notice that other people got the invitation their curiosity is sparked regarding this gathering of the who’s who of magicians. They enter an abandoned apartment and a hologram of blueprints starts playing. They have been brought together to form a “super group” called The Four Horsemen.

One year passes and The Four Horsemen are performing to sold out crowds as an act in Las Vegas. During one special performance, they rob a bank in Paris and the money starts falling from the rafters onto the audience. This is no simple illusion as the money appears to be real and the bank mentioned during the trick has actually been robbed. This is just Act 1 of 3 of their plan to take over corrupt businesses and shower the people they have wronged with their money. The feds led my Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) and a member from Interpol (Leaurent) are brought together to catch the Four Horseman. Rhodes brings along former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman) along for the ride to explain and uncover their tricks along the way. He is the type of retired magician who makes a living off making videos exposing the tricks of the trade.

The film plays out as your standard cat and mouse chase between The Four Horsemen versus the authorities who want to bring them down. Like any good magician, they are always two steps ahead in their plan. None of the characters are all that original or new. You’ve got your dumb detective who gets angry every time they get away. You’ve got your wise old mentors, and of course you’ve got your hot shot “criminals” who do not believe they are doing anything wrong. None of the actors are really playing outside their comfort zones. Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine have all played this types before. The film may sound conventional, but who cares.

The tagline for the film “The closer you look, the less you’ll see.” is frequently used throughout the movie to describe the magic and illusions being performed. It is also a decent way to describe the movie. Now You See Me is a perfectly good summer popcorn film. This is the kind of movie where you can go in, have fun, enjoy it for what it is worth, and not have to think too hard. Magic is like that. On the outside, if you watch a magic trick and the person performing it has done their job you will leave amazed and surprised. If you take it at face value, it can be a fun time in that moment. If you start to dive in and deeply dissect how the trick was done, you will get aggravated or frustrated that you wasted your time on something. This is that kind of movie. I do not think the filmmakers were going in trying to make the most artistic movie about magicians ever made. There are no hidden meanings or deep thoughts behind it. You will be severely disappointed if you are looking for high art or the mysteries of magic to be explained. If you want to see that movie, go rent Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige. Don’t worry, you will still get your Michael Caine fix in. This movie is meant to be taken at face value as a fun joy ride that may keep you guessing along the way.

RATING: *** 1/2 (3.5 out of 5 stars)

2013-05-28
Previous Post: Movie Rewind: PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971)
Next Post: Movie Rewind: END OF WATCH (2012)

Archives

Follow Me on Social Media!

Twin Cities Live 4/29/22 – Singin’ In The Rain, Celebrating the Movie Musical

https://youtu.be/rN16CxGkYTw

Paul McGuire Grimes Talent Reel – Film Critic and Entertainment Reporter

https://youtu.be/iCDyIyYVYKA

Movie Reviews

Lightyear- 3 Ticket Stubs, In theaters
Cha Cha Real Smooth- 4 Ticket Stubs, In theaters, AppleTV+
Fire Island- 4 Ticket Stubs, Hulu
Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers - 3.5 Ticket Stubs, Disney+
Top Gun: Maverick- 4.5 Ticket Stubs, In Theaters
Downton Abbey: A New Era - 3.5 Ticket Stubs, In theaters
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness- 2.5 Ticket Stubs, In Theaters
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - 4 Ticket Stubs, In theaters
The Northman- 4 Ticket Stubs, In Theaters
The Bad Guys - 3.5 Ticket Stubs, In theaters
Ambulance- 3.5 Ticket Stubs, In Theaters
The Bubble - 2 Ticket Stubs, Netflix
Everything Everywhere All At Once- 4.5 Ticket Stubs, In Theaters

Streaming TV Reviews

Ms. Marvel - 3 Ticket Stubs, Disney+
Heartstopper - 4.5 Ticket Stubs, Netflix
The Offer - 3 Ticket Stubs, Paramount+
Ozark Season 4, Part 2 - 4 Ticket Stubs, Netflix
Anatomy of a Scandal - 4 Ticket Stubs, Netflix
Slow Horses - 3.5 Ticket Stubs, AppleTV+
Moon Knight - 4 Ticket Stubs, Disney+
WeCrashed - 4 Ticket Stubs, AppleTV+

TOP GUN: MAVERICK Cast Interviews | Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly on Cruise

https://youtu.be/x_YfGebKuK8

Alexander Skarsgård Interview – THE NORTHMAN, Working with Nicole Kidman and Robert Eggers

https://youtu.be/3iqa-ST3eAI

“Beautiful Boy” Q&A with Timothée Chalamet & Nic Sheff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIPQIu04c9Q

Archives

  • Retrospectives
    • THE DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE
      • MY DEFINITIVE RANKING OF BATMAN ON THE BIG SCREEN
    • MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
      • Marvel Cinematic Universe – Phase Four
      • Marvel Cinematic Universe-Phase Three
      • Marvel Cinematic Universe-Phase Two
      • Marvel Cinematic Universe-Phase One
      • X-MEN
    • Stand By Me (1986)
    • The Bond, James Bond Challenge
    • “HALLOWEEN” RETROSPECTIVE – 40 Years of Terror
    • EVERYBODY IS STILL A SUSPECT: A LOOK BACK AT SCREAM
  • Interviews with the Cast and Crew
  • Home Releases – New on BluRay, DVD, and Streaming
  • The Archives
  • Marvel
  • Home

Designed using Chromatic. Powered by WordPress.