The most entertaining, sheer-fun movie so far this year

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2013)

Critics that jump on the bandwagon of faulting the recreation of magic in a movie as superfluous and redundant are missing the point. Every fool knows that whatever can be done in a live magic show can be replicated much more easily with a movie camera. But here, the point is not magic show, but movie-making. The magic is not the recreation of an impressive illusion, but the capturing of it on a movie screen in a most appealing way.
Now to a different angle. Some time ago, there was a TV show that purportedly reviewed all the secrets behind the magic trick we see. Many, professionals and general audience alike (and not without reason), regard professional magicians that review their trade secret for personal gains the most despicable of human species. This movie touches a little on this theme.
The keyword to this movie, however, is entertainment. On this, this movie score on several fronts. One is dialogue, in both its above-average verbal melee between the various characters and the cryptic delivery, most notably by Jesse Eisenberg who has distinguished himself in that sort of thing in "The social network". Another is the delivery of the movie, lavish set pieces and crisp pacing, among other things. As one prominent critic aptly puts it, this is a movie more about journey than destination. Casting is another bright spot, but I'll come to that later.
The opening sequence is something you have seen in many other movies – a team of different individuals being rounded up for a "project". In this particular case, it is four not-so-successful magicians each getting a mysterious Tarot card and converging at a mysterious meeting place, with some mild persona clashes thrown in along the way for good measure. We never get to see the mysterious individual (and this would predictably be the object of the final twist), as the scene cuts quickly to "a year later", when the four have become "The four horsemen" (nothing to do with Apocalypse, not even a hint) putting on a world-class show in Les Vegas. The show, briefly, is about teleporting a volunteer from the audience to the vault of a bank in Paris and "funneling" back 3 million Euros which shower on the cheering audience back in Vegas. A card signed by the volunteer somehow finds its way to the now empty vault of the bank in Paris.
Four more characters are introduced along the way: Michael Caine as a multi-millionaire purportedly the mentor of this show; Morgan Freeman as an ex-magician now turning against the profession with his TV show to expose their trade secret; Mark Ruffalo as a blundering FBI agent assigned, quite against his wishes, to handle this "case"; Melanie Laurent as the French Interpol sent from Paris to "assist" in this case. Well, I hope it's not too presumptuous to interject at this point that things may not be what they seem.
I always believe in describing only the beginning of the plot and leave people to enjoy the unfolding and therefore, just two more things to mention. The "mystery" of the first magic act is quickly revealed to the movie audience who, however, do not have much time to ponder its credibility as the movie drags them along in a whirlwind of occurrences. It's essentially a three-act show: Les Vegas, New Orleans and New York. The other thing to mention is "The Eye", purportedly an ultimate elite group the membership to which every magician covets. Admission, however, is extremely difficult to earn.
Finally, to the casting – first the Four Horsemen. Mentioned earlier, Eisenberg puts his persona to best use as the ego-abundant, charismatic classic sledge-of-hand magician. Ever attention-commanding, Woody Harrelson is the all-wicked-looking "mentalist" responsible for the hypnotizing department. Radiant with sunny charm is Isla Fisher (best known of course as the "Shopaholic" and also recently as Myrtle Wilson in the new "Gatsby") as an escape artist. Lower in profile (to balance off the other three, I suppose) is Dave Franco (you may or may not remember him in "Warm bodies") as the designated pickpocket (locks too) of the group. These four deliver their roles splendidly.
Among the four "other characters" already mentioned, the "Batman dual" of Caine and Freeman you would welcome in any movie, in any role. Ruffalo, as versatile an actor as you can find today, can handle just about any role thrown at him. On Laurent, I only need to refer to my user review of "Le concert" (2009) which had as its summary line "Melanie Laurent shines" and concluding remark "(the audience will) leave the cinema in an uplifted and happy mood, and forever in love with Melanie Laurent".
To conclude, I can do no better than reiterate my summary line "the most entertaining, sheer-fun movie so far this year".