Now you should see it again - what did you miss?

Rating: 9/10 (2 June 2013)

Don't overthink it. That's my first advice to those who watch Now You See Me, an otherwise-terrific psychological thriller with a magical theme, in at least one sense of the word. The movie relies on the staple of the magician's act, the sleight of hand, as it repeatedly tells its audience that the closer one looks, the less likely they are to discover the secret. It's an axiom that can be applied to the movie as well. It's fast moving, competently acted, and contains genuine twists - especially the last one, which is a doozy.
Our story begins with the solo acts of four magicians: the mentalist Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson), the showman Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), the spoon-bender Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and the stunt specialist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher). After each concludes a performance, he or she finds a Tarot card directing them to a particular apartment building in New York. Behind that door, the fun begins.
Some time later, the four - christened The Four Horsemen - perform a most unusual act in Las Vegas. Using a volunteer from the audience, they somehow manage to rob a bank in France. Ridiculous? Yes, of course it is - but there you are, nonetheless. The money is missing. What's more, it suddenly rains money into the crowd. Crowd goes wild. This, of course, gains the attention of not only the FBI, in the person of Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) but also Interpol, in the person of Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). How in the world did the money get from Paris to Vegas? Oh, this is only the beginning.
Next up is New Orleans. This time, McKinney plays a fun little trick on the group's benefactor, Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine); he has everyone in the audience write down the amount that's presently in their bank account. Then he has the audience look at the number using a flashlight from under the seats. Meanwhile, the group brings out a giant check that lists Tressler's bank holdings. As time passes, the amount on Tressler's check declines, while those of audience members increase. How is this possible?
Each time the FBI and Interpol think they've grabbed an ankle of the magicians, they've grabbed nothing more than thin air. Atlas and company are at least three steps ahead of everyone. But why? What is really behind all of this? What's the endgame?
The key - and this is not a spoiler by any measure - is to bear this in mind: watch everything, but not too closely. There are clues everywhere. And when all is said and done, the last trick complete, the final twist may well shock you into silence. And I sort of like that. I love a movie that can pirouette from one direction to the next, a bit of sleight-of- hand, if you will, with the new direction just as plausible as the first. Misdirection is all afoot in this caper. It's all about what you look at but can't see.
Now You See Me was cowritten by Boaz Yakin. Don't know the name? Well, he also wrote such luminous films as Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Prince of Persia, Safe, and From Dusk Till Dawn 2. Not quite the pedigree you'd expect for this quality film. Maybe it's the artful direction of Louis Leterrier, who helmed the first two Transporter films and the Clash of the Titans remake. Not a lot of pizazz in that list, is there? Still, somehow, it works. Everything seems to click. The cast has great chemistry, and the performances are (mostly) nuanced just enough to stay out of the path of a gripping script. Eisenberg's Daniel is essentially the same as Eisenberg's MarK Zuckerberg - smug, cocky, supersmart. Harrelson's Merrit is condescending, a has-been with little going for him. Fisher's Henley, though underdeveloped, adds needed estrogen to the quartet - with the undercurrent of having worked with Daniel as his assistant. And Dave Franco - yes, Dave - is good as the youngest of the bunch; Franco is basically a clone of his older brother James, who I swore up and down this was. Huh. Ruffalo, Laurent, Common, Caine, and Morgan Freeman (as a professional debunker of magicians) round out the cast.
One final note about this. Even after the all the magic, the heists, the twists, and the reveals, the very ending is ambiguous. It's like watching someone walk through a doorway without letting you see what's ahead; something has happened, something beyond the powers and will and even imagination of the magicians: something wonderful.