Reviews

I was surprised by this documentary. It began as you'd expect, a run of the mill tribute style show on conjurer, illusionist, master of slight of hand Ricky Jay.

He does a few tricks, others talk about his skills and knowledge in awed and glowing terms, including Steve Martin. Simply another forgettable 'TV spot' style film. But the documentary travels this familiar path until somewhere into the second half, when it suddenly asks the question of what type of person might be a magician.

And bam, it tugs aside the curtain and gives you a peak behind the facade, behind the showmanship. A momentary glimpse into precisely the type of person that Ricky Jay is. And it ain't pretty.

The film, despite a formulaic start, takes on a sinister twist that I found fascinating. It's worth hanging in for the peak behind the magic.

This is a fantastic film, I'm surprised as an Australian that I'd never heard of it until I stumbled across it on the net. A nice combination of comedy and pathos. The plot is nothing groundbreaking, but it's the characters that make this one. They're lovable and believable and they've got some solid dialogue to work with here. This is a tale of tough men in a tough environment, what unites them, what divides them, and what matters to them.

Don't really have much else to say other than check this out. I felt obliged to write a review for this because it's only got three, and this deserves more attention.

This film is a mixture of dubious links, interesting tidbits, important truths, questionable claims and statements of the obvious.

It's an interesting watch, even if you might be sceptical of the broader predictions of Ruppert's, and I certainly am. He seems to sway from interesting observation to a need to tie them all together into one centralised conspiracy. I'm not sure it's quite as simple as he paints it. Nevertheless I enjoyed the film.

But I gave this film a 3 out of 10 anyway, because the style of this documentary is a complete rip of Errol Morris. Not influenced by. Not a nod to. A direct copy of the unique style of Morris, down to the music, the late cuts...everything.

But Morris' films aren't just interesting for their style. They're interesting because he chooses fascinatingly nuanced and complex personalities who speak honestly about their subject matter.

Ruppert just sounds like a guy who's a little too convinced he has it all figured out, and what's everyone to seek guidance from him as to what we should do next.