Now You See Me

A heist film built on stage magicians. Four people are each sent a card. A street magician, a hypnotist, a pickpocket and an escape artist; none of them knows the others. A year later they are on stage in Las Vegas. At the end of the show they say they have teleported a member of the audience to a bank in Paris, and money rains into the hall. The money really has gone from the bank. From there the film is a chase. An FBI agent and an officer from the French police follow the team; every show is a crime and every time they are too late. There is also a former magician. A man who makes money exposing tricks on television is after them. What the narrative is interested in is not magic but misdirection: the sentence repeated throughout is that the closer you look the less you see, and the structure is built on it. Most of the tricks are explained, and the explanations are the most enjoyable part. The information at the end was taken by some viewers as a cheat; the narrative puts a surprise ahead of its logic and, looking back, several scenes do not hold. The camera is always moving. Circling shots and transitions that look unbroken carry the rhythm of the tricks. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are in the cast. Louis Leterrier directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes fast, showy, entertaining heist films. Who it is not for: anyone looking for consistency; the film breaks its own rules at the end.