Jack Goes Confidential: ‘Now You See Me’—The Closer You Look, The LESS You See

NOW YOU SEE ME is a caper thrill ride that pits an elite F.B.I. squad against a team of the world’s greatest illusionists…

It’s not the kind of thriller you’d expect to see in the summer. This sort of quality film fare usually shows up during the fall movie season.

Here we have a number of illusionists summoned by invitation to an abandoned New York City apartment where magically they become the recipients of instructions to pull off several highly involved capers.

Joining forces, they become known as The Four Horsemen with an act that would have even impressed the great Houdini.

Their first mind-bending illusion (or is it real?) is an incredible Las Vegas stunt. From their sin city stage they magically funnel a dubious, high rolling character Euros from his Paris bank vault thousands of miles away—and then shower their Vegas audience with it.

But that’s just the beginning of what’s to come as the daring Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco) now prepare for even bigger fish to fry in New Orleans.

But F.B.I. special agent Mark Ruffalo and his team are hot on their tails trying to expose them and bring down whatever possible heists are REALLY behind the “magic.”

To that end Ruffalo leans on veteran illusion insider Morgan Freeman to help debunk the flashy stage trickery.

It all leads to a smart twist ending that I never saw coming.

So who IS behind these missions impossible?

I’m not spoiling it for you here but will hint that a sucker is born every minute—especially in THIS cat-and-mouse game.

If there is one central theme running throughout this thriller it’s that misdirection is the basic backbone of magic. And that magic is really targeted deception.

To that end the movie makers employed the talents of master magician David Copperfield in staging some of the most incredible tricks of the trade that even leave Michael Caine at a loss for words.

A MINDBENDER!

NOW YOU SEE ME raising 3 out of 5 deceptive fingers.

(Reviewed at AMC Town Center, Leawood.)

JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES every Friday at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on NewsRadio KMBZ Am & Fm / Also anytime on Time-Warner Cable’s K.C. ON DEMAND, Channel 411 / And throughout Nebraska on NEBRASKA ON DEMAND.