An Honest Liar

I've always been a huge fan of James Randi, and this documentary makes me love his work even more. The Popof story alone makes this film worth watching, but there's tons more about him here. Definitely a must-see for any sceptic.

The title 'An Honest Liar' should honestly be the only thing that you read, before watching it.

For those who won't do that, I will summarize the elements that make it my favorite documentary:

-Nicely structured storytelling

'An Honest Liar' is long, but it has a calm yet captivating pace. Interviews are mixed up with enough found footage to prevent a talking-heads syndrome.

-The turbulent life of Randi

This is a magician that can tell you his life's story for hours, without boring you.

-Controversial chapters

Randi has devoted his life to revealing the truth, but is hiding one in the meantime. This plot wraps around the story, and is told in a way that allows you to feel with the reason of this deception. For skeptics on the matter, this might broaden their horizon.

-Scope of the plot

The scope of 'An Honest Liar' is big, just as the life of Randi. It will probably touch some familiar subjects, from interesting angles (fi: Faith-healers). It even reached out of the borders of a documentary when the interviewer partakes in a lie himself, allowing you to consider the broad definition of deception.

-It's educative nature

There are several life-lessons told throughout the documentary. What it can teach the viewer is very subjective, but there are lessons about deception to be learned in there for most of us.

-The atmosphere

Interviews being held seated, but the camera work is varied enough, and settings capture the atmosphere of the interviews. This is most noticeable in one of the more emotional scenes near the end.

-What I disliked

The lack of action in the own footage. There is, for instance, a lawsuit going on at the time of recording, but the camera isn't in on the action. This didn't degrade much from my overall viewing pleasure, so I won't hesitate to grant 'An Honest Liar' 10 out of 10.

No spoons were harmed in the making of this film.

The Amazing Randi is a legend. I've read one of his books and seen him countless times on TV. This documentary is a real treat if you're a fan of magic and healthy skepticism. I like how it shows his human side and wish it spent more time the personal side of his life. But it also spends a good bit of time covering some of his best shenanigans. This really needed to be a series. They crammed a lot in here.

I've always loved magic. I study films and music to the point that while I still appreciate art at its best, the secrets have been spilled. I want to keep the secrets of magic under wraps so the best showmen can still captivate me. I'd actually never heard of James Randi, a self- proclaimed substitute for Houdini after his death, or maybe I had but forgotten him, so it was a delight to find out he'd been involved in significant events in magic that I looked into - such as Uri Geller's live exposé. Even in his 80s he's a charismatic entertainer who's fun to watch. He knows the value of the secrets of magic, and hates when it's abused to manipulate people for profit, rather than entertain them for profit. It's very satisfying to watch Randi's successes as frauds are exposed and the filmmakers have a wealth of footage to illustrate their points. The chapters may seem to end prematurely, but it culminates in its crisis point in the third act in a way that keeps a balanced argument as to whether what Randi is doing is justice or invasive of people's freedom and hope. But what's most engaging about the doc is Randi's own life and the hidden side of him of his partner. An Honest Liar is a very well put together doc about an important figure in magic everyone should know about.

8/10

For me, this is a movie about a great professional magician, sadly spoiled by a secondary personal relationship plot line introduced about 1/2 way though. This action erases the early cinematic and plot perfection leaving the whole experience flawed. The movie started aimed at one outcome, but then switches to a different target. The switch comes across as contrived, sort of a mixed metaphor.

The genre switches from comedy to tragedy, without an epic hero; the second half tragic protagonist is not Randi. The movie shot a lot of scene arrows, but at different targets, unnecessarily watering down the entire effort.

I came away liking and profoundly respecting the art and science of James Randi, who is quite the magician in his own right and time, turned detective and debunker of charlatans. His personal life was artfully dealt with at first, then paraded like dirty laundry when it wasn't. Maybe the storyteller's intent was to debunk the debunker, but the magic of the reveal was lacking, not consequential, but incidental. Therefore, the original comedic genre became a tragedy without pity or fear.

I recommend it for the first half alone, the part about the Amazing Randi, his acclaimed magic and debunking. Still, maybe walk out 1/2 way though when the protagonist shifts character unnecessarily in a spoiling way, turning a great wine of a movie sour.