Now You See Me

Cast of Characters:

J. Daniel Atlas - Jesse Eisenberg

Dylan Rhodes - Mark Ruffalo

Merritt Osbourne - Woody Harrelson

Alma Vargas - Melanie Laurent

Henley Reeves - Isla Fisher

Jack Wilder - Dave Franco

Evans - Common

Arthur Tressler - Michael Caine

Thaddeus Bradley - Morgan Freeman

Director - Louis Leterrier

Screenplay - Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin & Edward Ricourt

Rated PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content

      Academy Award nominees Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson team up with an all star cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco as well as Academy Award winners Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman in the magician heist film, Now You See Me.

      The film opens by introducing four individual magicians. J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is a cocky street magician. Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), once Atlas's assistant, now fronts a shock magic show focusing on gory stunts. Merritt Osbourne (Woody Harrelson) is a once famous mentalist now reduced to shaking down people for cash through hypnosis and mind reading, and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) is a sleight of hand artist. The four are brought together by way of a mysterious hoodie-wearing stranger.      

      A year later, the four are now a hot, headlining Vegas Act, sponsored by wealthy insurance magnate Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine), known as the Four Horsemen. During one performance, the Four Horsemen pull off a trick that involves transporting an audience member to the bank overseas in France, and then robbing the bank of $3 million in Euros. This stunt not only gets the attention of FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), but also Interpol Agent Alma Vargas (Melanie Laurent). Finding it extremely frustrating to catch four people that are excellent at the art of illusion, Dylan and Alma recruit the help of Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a once former magician himself who now hosts a show that reveals the secrets behind a magician's tricks.

      Featuring an all-star cast, an intriguing story and direction from Louis Leterrier, who directed the highly entertaining Unleashed in 2005 and The Incredible Hulk in 2008, Now You See Me has the ingredients for an exciting summer hit. The performances are - surprise, surprise - everything you'd expect to see from a talented cast like this. Both Eisenberg and Harrelson - who starred together in the 2009 hit Zombieland - are terrific together. Harrelson, in particular, has a great opening scene involving two guests he performs a hypnotist trick on. The lovely Isla Fisher and Melanie Laurent (who was brilliant in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds) are both screen presences, the latter of which has a bit of buddy cop bit going on with Mark Ruffalo's character. Dave Franco (James Franco's younger brother, and the resemblance is striking) doesn't get quite the screen time and scenery chewing that his costars get, but he does have a cleverly choreographed fight scene involving of all things, a deck of cards. As for Freeman and Caine, do I really need to say anything? Would you ever doubt whether these two acting legends could pull off a great performance or not? That being said, despite the great performances, the stylish direction and the intriguing story, the film goes off the rails somewhat in the final act. For three-fourths of this movie, it is one slick, entertaining thrill ride. With the final quarter act though, when we finally get the "big reveal", it ends up leaving us with more questions than answers. Any answers we do get really aren't that clear either.

      All things considered, I'm still gonna give this a mild recommendation. There's a great deal of style and visual flare that go hand in hand with the performances and entertaining story, and in spite of the lackluster ending, it's still worth a watch. I just wish the writers would've maybe given the last act another re-write. I give Now You See Me a B- (★★★).

REVIEWS COMING LATER NEXT WEEK...

What the Hell Were They Thinking?!

Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

The Internship

The Purge