thoughts on Now You See Me

So, last night I dragged my still-hung-up-on-the-series-finale-of-Smash ass away from the Smash YouTube clips and Television Without Pity recaps and went out to see this movie. First of all: I rarely go to see movies at night, right after they come out. Movies get crowded. Second of all: apparently there are very few PG-13 movies out right now and all of the kids have already seen the new Iron Man, because there were A LOT of teens at this movie. Whew!

Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco (whose name I didn't know before looking it up for this review, who is apparently James Franco's younger brother, and who totally looks it) star as magicians of various levels of fame, various talents, and various levels of legitimacy. Woody Harrelson is a "mentalist" who seems to use his powers of "mind-reading" and hypnotism mainly to con people. Isla Fisher has a Vegas act where she is handcuffed, dropped into a tank of water, and then must get herself loose before flesh-eating piranhas are dropped into the tank with her. Jesse Eisenberg seems to be the most famous of the group, but in the opening sequence that introduces the characters, we only see him do a (granted, very impressive) card trick. Dave Franco seems to be the most low-level, as his opening trick amounts to pick-pocketing.

The four of them receive cards to go to a certain address at a certain time. One year later, they are on a Vegas stage; it looks as if they manage to, with the help of a seemingly randomly chosen audience member, rob a bank in Paris, even though the audience member is the only one who leaves the room, and he is only gone for a few minutes. How is this possible? An FBI agent played by Mark Ruffalo is tasked to find out, helped by an Interpol agent played by Melanie Laurent and eventually by a former magician played by Morgan Freeman.

It's really fun, you guys. As shown in the movie, magic is mostly an illusion...but it's still clever, fun to watch, and impressive if done well. The four of them may not have used magic to rob the bank...but how DID they manage to make millions of dollars fall from the ceiling of a Vegas casino? The film follows Mark Ruffalo as he tries to figure it out, and stop the group (who call themselves the Four Horsemen) before they commit more crimes. Along the way, we are treated to another New Orleans-set heist during Mardi Gras, some car chases, and some fun interrogation-room scenes in which the Four Horsemen frustrate the agents by freeing themselves from handcuffs, reading their minds, and other such tomfoolery. It's one of those movies where you know that you, the viewer, are always going to be one step behind the main characters, so you might as well just sit back and enjoy the ride.

I commented to my friends after the movie that Jesse Eisenberg pretty much always plays himself, or at least the same character, but that I always like him. In this movie, the same is actually kind of true of all of the actors; you will notice that in my recap, I only referred to them by the actors' names, and not the characters'. The truth is, I didn't even remember many of the characters' names, and most of the characters aren't really developed past the actors' more recognizable qualities. Jesse Eisenberg's character thinks he's smarter than everyone else and usually is. Isla Fisher is funny and charming; I've seen that woman pretty much singlehandedly redeem not-so-great movies (Confessions of a Shopaholic, anyone?), and while she doesn't get tons to do here, it's fun to see her in an ensemble of other likable actors. Woody Harrelson is funny and kind of smarmy. The fact that the characters aren't super-developed isn't a criticism in this scenario, though, because the fun of the movie is in the magic/heists/speculation about how they did it; the actors need to be instantly likeable and seem smart enough to pull something like this off while shady enough to be involved in crime. They all fit the bill.

Bottom line: fun, entertaining movie with a solid ensemble cast of actors. The other movies I've seen this movie have been BIG (Iron Man 3 and The Great Gatsby), and it was enjoyable to see something a little lower-key. I'd recommend.