Last night I was looking for a fun movie to watch. I was not in the mood for
something that was heavy or serious. Thus, I selected Now You See Me and I enjoyed it immensely. How could I not enjoy a movie that stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, and Mélanie Lauren? Now You Can See Me sucks you in almost immediately when you are presented with the following question: 1. Can four magicians successfully rob a bank in front of a paying audience? 2. Is it really magic or is it all just a bit of razzle-dazzle, designed to distract the audience from the real trick?
J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Jack Wilder (Franco), and Merritt McKinney (Harrelson) are four street/stage magicians with varying degrees of magical talent. They are bought together by an unknown benefactor, who invites them to a dingy New York apartment by the way of an invitation printed on Tarot cards. The story then jumps a year, and we discover that the group have become celebrity magicians, known as ‘The Four Horseman’. We join them during a Las Vegas show, as they deceive and delight with their on stage antics, particularly with their outrageous final trick. They appear to rob a Parisian bank by transporting a man into the bank’s vault and sucking the money out of the vault and into the audience. Surely this just an illusion? Perhaps, but the exact same bank was robbed, and the money is really gone.
FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is given the case, and an unwelcome partnership with French Interpol agent, Alma Dray (Laurent). The Four Horseman claim it was magic and if they were to be arrested, it would be akin to the government admitting that magic is real. So how did they do it? And what is coming next? These four have talent, but they are only following instructions from their benefactor. What is said benefactor’s end goal? Is there a point to the madness or is it just a grand illusion?
So you see that Now You See Me is a movie that answers some questions while creating more questions. I highly recommend this film.