Passe-passe

"Quicker Than The Eye" is a slow paced mystery. Ben Gazzara stars as a down on his luck magician. When he is sent to a foreign country, he is framed for murder.

Does he have enough tricks up his sleeve to clear his name?

Ben Gazzara is very low-key in this. The plot doesn't go anywhere until the last 40 minutes, but the climax is fun though. The worst part of the movie was the ending because it comes out of nowhere.

In the end: It's an okay thriller, but not worth seeking out. "Killing Of A Chinese Bookie" "Road House", or "Pursuit" are better Gazzara films.

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My review was written in July 1989 after watching the movie on Academy video cassette.

"Quicker Than the Eye" is a modest Swissmade programmer headed shortly for the U. S. video market. It plays like an elongated tv episode.

Ben Gazzara is a bit uncomfortable in the lead role of a semi-successful magician touring Europe with his whiny ("Let's get married") assistant Mary Crosby. Nasties, led by Ivan Desny, plot to use him as the dupe to kill an African leader attending a summit conference in Locarno, with the blame to fall on Gazzara.

The hitmen fail to complete their mission, with Gazzara escaping rather than being murdered. With the aid of Crosby and other beautiful women he adapts his long-in-the-works super magic trick to outwit and catch the baddies.

Pic is well lensed on lovely locations but fails to generate suspense. Gazzara's magic feats are perfunctory, and little interest is generated by the cornball romantic rivalry between Crosby and their employer (Catherine Jarrett) for Gazzara's boudoir attentions.

Tech credits are good, including English dubbing of support roles supervised by Robert Rietty.