The Magician

The movie began with hand-held shots of a man sitting in his darkened car explaining to the camera that he's going to follow the bloke into the garage and then "give him the good news", and that he does.

The Magician is a movie written, directed, produced and edited by Scott Ryan, oh, and he plays the lead as well. Reportedly he did so on a budget of only 3,000 Australian dollars and in only ten days, although reports suggest that he spent something in the region of five years writing it! It's an interesting tale of a filmmaker who makes a documentary of hit-man Ray Shoesmith and a few of his "marks", and that's really about all there is to it. Yet it turns out to be rather fun.

It begins darkly and the latter half presents a more sobering tone, but the mid section is more about clever dialogue which, at times, can be extremely funny. Scenes such as the bet between the film maker and Ray if Clint Eastwood was in The Dirty Dozen, where Ray opens the boot to get the mark to list the actors are absurdly funny, and this is a pattern which follows for most of the lighter middle part of the film. However the darker sections are the more intriguing, the filming of the man digging his own grave in the middle of nowhere, Ray sitting explaining his planned hit in the darkened car, these scenes are thoroughly absorbing.

It's in these darker scenes that I find the comic moments work the best, when the film maker and hit-man are chatting about some stupidly funny topic and then he turns to kill someone. The contrast of the normality of the situation and the friendship and banter that these two characters have built up with the inhuman, violent acts of the hit-man show the complexity of the character and the fact that he is normal just with a very unusual side! There's even the compelling caring side of Ray that appears when he tries to help the film maker get his stolen gear back. Listening to his somewhat late bout of morality as he pleads not to hurt the thief is actually very amusing, particularly Ray's face and calm manner when he returns after asking politely and being told to get lost. This scene, and Ray's reaction is just superb.

Ryan takes over the movie and steals the show wonderfully, he's utterly engaging in front of the camera, and his slow, drawn out, casual style gives a natural performance. Although it's fair to say that at the beginning of the movie it takes a little while for both he, and the audience, to get into the stride of the movie.

For me the natural side of the movie is pulled back by the performance of Massimiliano Andrighettowho plays the film maker, Max "Massimo" Totti. Considering the situation and the acts he's witnessing Ray commit, I found it hard to accept his open and often argumentative approach with the character. It didn't sit well for me with the image of a hit-man. I forever thought that Ray's patience would break and he would stop idle arguing with him to either kill him or beat him to shut up, yet perhaps this shows the measured and calculating Ray. Yet I could just not grapple with the idea that the film maker would be so fearless.

This movie is about the superbly written dialogue and the very well acted Ray. However it tries to be a bit too comic for my tastes, and with the darker element attached it seems to be confused as to what story it really wants to tell. Very reminiscent of the banter and connection in the film Chopper, yet for me that pulled off the mixture of comic and darkness far better. Still entertaining though, and some of the dialogue will stay with you after you leave the cinema. Dark humour indeed.

Scott Ryan has fashioned a spectacular debut film on literally the sniff of a wet rag. The Magician displays a level of ingenuity and confidence rarely seen in the Australian film industry. This film certainly makes a mockery of all the crud that has been churned out lately with significant AFC funding.

The Magician is a very funny mockumentary about a hit-man, Ray. The film is really nothing more than a series of vignettes which show Ray carrying out his occupation and chatting with the documentary filmmaker, Max. This film really should have been an exercise in boredom. However, The Magician manages to be one of the most entertaining Australian films to see the light of day in a long time, almost entirely due to the efforts of writer/director/actor Scott Ryan. Scott Ryan is mesmerising as Ray. This character manages to be abhorrent, hilarious and strangely moral without ever slipping into parody. As well as making a convincing hit-man, Ray is also the perfect mouthpiece for Ryan's witty jabs at everything from the legalisation of drugs, to the prevalence of gays in Hollywood.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the film for me is that it is so Australian-centric, for want of a better word. This film isn't trying to imitate Tarantino (like ever other debut film featuring a gun fight), nor is it making a desperate grab for international attention, like most of the dreary "quirky" (i.e. crap) comedies receiving funding from the government. The result is a highly distinctive film that feels completely original.

There are a couple of minor problems with the film that most likely stem from the tiny budget. With the exception of Scott Ryan's fine performance, and perhaps Ben Walker's engaging turn as Tony, the other actors are clearly amateurs. The character of Max is also somewhat perplexing. There is no explanation for his rather amoral and perversely non-judgemental approach to documentary film-making. The extensive use of Max's hand-held camera is also somewhat disorientating to begin with. My biggest complaint would have to be the film's ending, which seems forced and came around much too quickly.

I'm glad that films like The Magician can still get made in this country and I hope that it works as a calling card for the outrageously talented Scott Ryan. I'm really perplexed why it (or "Wolf Creek" for that matter) didn't win a swag of AFI awards. I guess that both films made the mistake of actually being entertaining.

This is a low or even no-budget film, and does suffer from some non-professional elements. However, for what it is, it's a really engrossing film that is both original and captivating. All of the actors are quite good, none seem to be acting and all possessing a natural presence necessary for the mockumentary to work. Some scenes are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny; others, should have been cut except then the 86 minutes running time would even be less. A movie about a hit-man needs to have more violence, and the Magician suffers from being too talky. Scott Ryan though really deserves credit, seemingly channeling Robert Carlysle as Begby. I think this is something like Clerks or Evil Dead that upon first viewing isn't overwhelmingly impressive but could gain cult status and gain a loyal fan base.

This film is head and shoulders above many films because all of its characters are well rounded believable and interesting. Ryan's lead character is brilliant. The film balances brilliantly on a casual dread of this guy who kills people for a living, and could just as easily shoot you because you are inconvenient. Its edge of the seat viewing watching these characters interact and they are always believable, realistic and intriguing. Not one bad line, delivery or look.

This movie is so well executed it could have been done by Ray the hit man, you'll never find the body.

Come on Australia, this guy is a major talent. Don't let him go to waste.

One of the things that makes Mr. Inbetween a great show, is that Ray.offers his philosophical view between the good and the evil all the way through the 3 seasons, to the point that you seem to feel bad for him about how everything went, and you could even agree to some extent to his way of living which happens to a whole ethical dilemma to be digested.

Then at some point in the series, they do a little cameo mentioning this film and one could be intrigued to see if this is actually a prequel and if it actually set a precedent for the philosophical vision of the show.

But in this film I can't really see that philosophical Ray. He is obviously almost 15 years younger, with a way less developed sense of life, and although he pretends to set some little ideas, it's by no means anything near as deep as the TV show offers, they are way more superficial. You can even get the first two chapters from the show, which happen to be the same length as this tape, and still get more juice.

Here Ray feels more like a regular hired gun, while Mr. Inbetween, is a hitman 2.0 with all that philosophical background that makes you think about it, which is great.

I can only give credits to this film, to the fact, that it was the seed for making the show, probably because Scott got the same idea back in the day, but did not have the cinematographic tools yet to make it happen and ended with the best he could.

So I'm glad everything was done the way it was.