A me gli occhi...

Now You See It... This movie was awesome. I have always wanted Disnwey Channel to put out on some kind of fantasy show, and they did a great one. This movie is about a aspiring teen producer, Allyson Miller (Michalka) who is in search for the world's greatest kid magician, Danny Sinclair (Pacar). Allyson hopes that Danny is her first shot at winning a magic contest. During some of Danny's tricks, weird things out of the ordinary appear. It turns out that Danny has magical powers, but can't control them. He then consults Max, the lead magician and a man who also has magical powers. Max is evil and since Danny's magic is too powerful, Max wants to drain it from him and take control. What happens next?

As reality television shows are all the rage in the early 21st Century, this film posits an interesting fictional one: "The World's Best Kid Magician". Adding to the novelty, the producers are hiring "kid producers" for individual segments. Each kid producer's job is to find then follow around a candidate for the best kid magician. Allyson (Alyson Michalka), a smart, perky (maybe too perky) teen, has been hired as one of the segment producers. We follow her as she tries out a succession of horrible kid magicians before finding Danny Sinclair (Johnny Pacar), who at first seems like another disaster. It turns out that he has ability but just can't control it. Will he be able to hone his craft and win the show? And just how does he do his mind-boggling yet "accidental" tricks?

While the premise is awfully interesting, this is one of Disney's lesser live action films. However, as I think most Disney films (live action as well as animated) are spectacular, a lesser Disney film isn't too bad. There are a number of problems, but I ended up giving Now You See It . . . a 7, or a "C".

As I often prefer to do, I'll get the problems out of the way first. Director Duwayne Johnson (who has been an editor on three David Lynch films, including Blue Velvet (1986), and who directed three episodes of the "Twin Peaks" (1990) television series--an odd pedigree for a Disney helmer) makes two moves that do not work very well. One is obvious--parts of the film seem like a reality show, complete with the cheesy music that those usually have, and the over-dramatic dilemmas and "challenges". We could argue that the intention was to spoof such shows, but those sequences do not play very satirically. They just seem like an especially low budget reality show. Maybe this stuff would work for you if you're a fan of such shows, but I tend to hate a lot of them (I've only liked the Andy Kaufman-like practical joke ones, which seem much more mocking of the genre than Now You See It . . . does).

The second problem for me, although this was much slighter, was that as an extension of the reality show mentality, Dunham shoots a few sequences in a faux documentary cinéma vérité style, ala The Blair Witch Project (1999). Most of the material closest to that style (such as the kids walking down the hall towards the "secret chamber") is very brief, and some of it even works, but the interview-style bumpers of Allyson seem too much like telling instead of showing.

The production design is quite impressive. I love idea of the "Magic Mansion", which is where the bulk of the film is set. (A similar setting was also used to great effect in Clive Barker's 1995 film, Lord of Illusions.) Especially the library, and the secret room in what amounts to the mansion's "dungeon", accessible only through a bank vault-styled door, have a strong Harry Potter vibe to them.

The magical performances, while occasionally banal, were just as often intriguing and well staged. Besides, some of them were supposed to be banal--the idea is that these are mostly inexperienced young kids on the upward slope of the learning (and skill) curve, after all.

The overarching plot, which involves a few twists and which is occasionally quite nefarious, is very well written by Bill Fritz, who was a story producer and story editor on the legitimate reality shows, "Fear Factor" (2001) and "House Rules" (2003), making him an apt choice.

The film is also well acted by the two principals, Michalka and Pacar. The third principal is Frank Langella as Max, who is at least very bizarre and interesting here. I couldn't recall seeing Langella since 1979's Dracula (at least I hadn't seen him in a starring role), so suddenly seeing him 25 years down the pike was strange in itself, now that he's much paunchier and he's adopted a tight-cropped, graying Anton LaVey look to accommodate his receding hairline. As Max, he tends to have an odd smirk, maybe a smarminess, which comes across as fairly campy/cheesy at first but that turns out to be appropriate for the character in retrospect. However, it seems a bit inexplicable why the other people interacting with Max on a regular basis wouldn't think he's a bit loopy. So maybe Langella is being a bit over the top and hammy, just not in a scenery-chewing way. But, I like those qualities. Heck, I thought that Jon Voight should have won an Oscar for Anaconda (1997)!

While it's not one of the better Disney live action films, Now You See It . . . is without a doubt one of the more unusual ones. It even has some interesting subtextual layering of the appearance/reality distinction that's the heart of magic. Enjoyable despite its flaws, you shouldn't miss this one if you see it airing again. It would also be worth picking up on DVD if it makes it to that format and you are a huge Disney fan, as I am.

Now, the stereotypical Disney Channel movie is some "Hooray for everything!"-themed movie about a young girl/guy struggling to get through middle school/high school. This is still about a young boy (around 16) and a girl (same age) trying to help him master his magic.

Alyson Michalka doesn't stray far from her character on Phil of the Future with Alyson (wow, what a stretch with the name), perky, fun, and inquisitive. Yet her character in this movie has slightly more "oompf" than Keely.

Johnny Pacar is very good at portraying Danny, struggling to keep his powers secret and under control.

This movie strays slightly from the Disney Channel movie mold. It's a little more dark than past Disney movies, and I like the change. The writing is very good for a kid/teen movie, and the casting is done very well. The main idea of the movie is that Allyson (Michalka) is a teen producer on a new reality show trying to find the "World's Greatest Kid Magician." But all her prospects are a flop. Until she finds Danny (Pacar), that is. They move to the magic mansion, which leads to mystery, drama, and even betrayal. Well, as much betrayal as can be shown on the Disney Channel.

All in all, I commend Disney on at least trying to break out of their stereotypes with this movie. It's entertaining, and you should at least try to check it out. Michalka and Bacar have great on-screen friend chemistry, even in the beginning, when they're less than friends.

7/10

I decided to watch this movie one week ago because of Alyson Michalka. I like her very much as a singer and twice I saw her as an actress. I wanted to make sure that I really like this girl. I like Disney movies because they are very bright and colorful. This one was also very good! It is a story about magic, about television and teenagers, who think that they can become great magicians. Her name is Alyson and she was there - she saw everything by her own eyes. It is not so simple as it can seem to be. A mysterious secret which was hidden by the great magician can be revealed. Alyson was very good at her role. Why? She was very-very active and I saw a lot of emotions on her face! She is really talented! A good job! "Now you see it" - one of the best Disney movies for family, very magical, real and interesting. Movie about friendship and rivalry. I recommend it to everybody!

While producing a reality show, a teenager (Alyson Michalka) meets a magician (Johnny Pacar) whose powers are real but put him in danger. An aspiring reality television producer is looking for the best young magician in the world when she meets Danny Sinclair. But as she grows closer to him, he reveals a big secret: his magic is real!

I really love Disney movies, but watching the movies from the 2000s I realize how silly they are, with varied themes, but always in the same vein of simple, silly, funny, lucky for me to have a crush on this type of movie, but I found it super cute , despite everything having an extra dose of exaggeration, bizarre situations all fitting together very conveniently and a cute ending with a little moral lesson like every Disney movie has to be...