Mostly great

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2013)

First of all, I love me a heist movie. Cons, heists, whatever you call them, I love them. However, the trailer for this movie didn't really sell the premise to me, and I wasn't that interested.
Boy, was I wrong. With the exception of the last quarter, the movie is actually surprisingly smart, and entertaining. While there are let downs within the filmmaking (The amount of CGI they use for the magic is baffling), the narrative is smartly weaved throughout.
The cast work well together, and as soon as we pass the "catalyst" moment, the characters stop being quite so annoying (and... shouty... in Isla Fisher's case), and settle into their roles quite well to the point that they're all very likable. Eisenberg in particular was a standout to me, I was very happy to see him play a more confident character than we've seen of him.
As for what didn't work... The ending was stupid. That's all I'm saying about that, because that's all I could work out.
I would recommend the movie, but I'd also advise the viewer not to raise their hopes too high. It's a very good and very smart movie, but it slips off into something much more disappointing and sloppy near the end.