Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

popcorninhell In the words of Robert Houdin, the father of modern illusion, "A magician is just an actor playing the part of a magician." If that be the case then James Randi is among the most prolific actors that has ever lived. The Canadian-born self-described charlatan has played a variety of roles over an 87-year life, from talented stage magician, daring escape artist, paranormal debunker, dedicated skeptic and doting husband. Yet recording a partial list of his accomplishments does very little in getting to the meat of a life that's beyond extraordinary. For that you have to see An Honest Liar, an unassuming biographical documentary that is arguably the best personal profile ever put on screen.The first act opens quite as you would expect; a run-down of who James Randi is, where he's from (Toronto, Canada) and how he got involved in magic (Houdini and Harry Blackstone naturally). The film then follows the rabbit trails of every interview which are informed by the likes of fellow magicians Penn & Teller and Alice Cooper among others. Yet lest you think the perfunctory limitations of a biographical documentary are boring, you clearly don't know much about Randi the Great. He carved up a living in magic early on after dropping out of high school to join the Canadian National Exhibition. At the height of his career he was a popular escape artist who would exeunt prison cells, safes and submerged water coffins.In his 30's he became well known as a mentalist though he soured to the idea after other mentalists, showboating evangelists and other "occultists" began using their illusions to fool their audiences. "Magicians are the most honest people in the world. They tell you they're going to fool you, and then they do it," He says while discussing the differences between himself and those who claim supernatural powers.It was in the 60's that Randi began a second career as a professional skeptic to prevent con artists from exploiting their audiences. Thanks to frequent appearances on television he single- handedly destroyed the reputations of faith healer Peter Popoff and Israeli psychic Uri Geller. It is these rivalries along with Randi punk-ing academia on a regular basis that provide the film with much of its high-drama. Randi would often work with fakes, embark in deep-cover magician espionage and even perpetuate hoaxes in attempts to keep everyone honest. His crusade to expose the fakes not only garnered the attention of cultural icons like Johnny Carson but of Venezuelan performance artist Jose Alvarez who would later become Randi's husband in 2013.Told with sensitivity and an eye for conflict, An Honest Liar stands as a perfect example of a documentary taking on the personality of its subject. The film digs ever deeper into the motivations of the bristled Randi who by 2014 still had a mind sharper than a German steak knife. Thanks in part to serendipity, the filmmakers are awarded by their persistence with some truly revealing moments. There are some narrative fumbles thanks in part to some truly unexpected revelations. That said, the high-stakes emotions of the last act can't help but feel genuine, even if echos of F for Fake (1973) make it nearly impossible for audiences to suspect foul-play.Like a diamond in the rough, An Honest Liar is a film that enlivens the documentary film genre while telling the highly entertaining story of an extraordinary life. Meticulously deceitful, playfully intelligent and magically engaging, An Honest Liar shines the light on the dangers of fraud and does so through the granular life of "Randi the Great".

robtromp Don't listen to any of the homophobic reviews of this film. It is one of the truly mind-bending films you will ever see. Almost everyone will have some cherished fantasy challenged by this one. Our species is an odd beast, and the sooner we all start accepting that fact, the more likely we are to evolve into something better. No spoilers here, you have to watch this film, first to last, to truly appreciate. Now, how can anyone write a ten line review without spoilers? It's pretty hard to do. You have to drone on and on until your reader is almost comatose, and then drone on and on again till he's about to slit your throat, then drone on and on until he indeed slits his own throat. But, that is the price of posting a review on IMDb. I hope you appreciate the effort.Enjoy!

Hank Yank This is a story on the tension between reality and illusion.Randi early in life: " I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery."Randi, the great illusionist and escape artist, becomes a fighter for truth later in life. Living a mission to uncover illusionists who are saying they are in contact with the gods like, Uri Geller and Popov, who were claiming psychic powers.Randi proves they are just illusionists, debunking their self-claimed divine powers. Randi believes this is extremely important as people place far to much trust in these fraudulent con-men.I find it interesting to see the human will to believe, people ignoring the proof offered by Randi, wanting to believe in divine powers on the earth thereby feeding the mouth and pleasures of the con men in the world.I wonder is the influence of con men a bad thing?A person in the documentary said it quite well, the energy in the room with Popov was amazing. With his self claimed godly connection he created a belief, a huge energy filling the room, giving people faith, a rush. An energy people lack in normal life. The conclusion is that Randi's skeptic words are an inconvenient truth. Because what is an earth without divine powers? This energy in room with Popov is real. If Randi is right, are we just Muppet's running around being born, feeding ourselves and dying?Randi is a front-man of the skeptics, believing, that we will have a better world without this "god on earth" illusion.With this believe and his well placed actions against the frauds he became a god in itself for the skeptics.It is extremely beautiful to see Randi was living a large part of his life with a huge lie and illusions as well. Thereby proving his no god as well. No god for the skeptics. Just a normal man; an honest man, a liar, all in one. There is divinity in that.

MartinHafer This is an interesting biography about James Randi (a.k.a. 'The Amazing Randi') but it's also one that seems very muddled and confusing towards the end--such that I really wasn't sure WHAT the filmmaker intended with this movie. Most of the film is about Randi's crusade to expose charlatans who prey on people by using magic tricks and labeling them either psychic powers or powers from God. When talking about this, the film was at its best and the first 85% of the film makes SANE viewers admire and love Randi and his work. However, towards the end, Randi's partner gets in trouble with the law for identity theft. His reasons seemed understandable but instead of just leaving the story there, the filmmaker ODDLY chose to then include a bunch of interviews with Uri Geller--all of which was left unchallenged by Randi or his associates. Giving a questionable character like Geller this opportunity just seemed bizarre as well as ran counter to the spirit of the rest of the film. I didn't understand this at all and it completely confused the film--and seemed unnecessary and, perhaps, a bit underhanded. Overall, I say watch the film but just turn it off near the end or read up on Geller--he's certainly no saint!!