Any magician worth their ticket price knows that in order to execute the perfect magic trick, they must exude an unwavering confidence that persuades their audience to swap logic for an open mind. The same could be said about the makers of the illusion-fueled heist film Now You See Me, who ask moviegoers to simply sit back and be amazed with their high-concept trip through the world of theatrical magic. But a good magician also knows they must have something up their sleeve to pay off the audience’s leap of faith. Unfortunately for Now You See Me, with so many tricks and turns desperately crammed up its sleeve, it struggles not to burst at the seams.

At a time of the year when you would be hard pressed to find a film that isn’t a sequel, reboot or adaptation, you have to give Now You See Me and director Louis Leterrier credit for striving to think outside the box. In this case, however, that attempt to establish originality comes at the loss of cinematic necessities such as character development and narrative plausibility — the absence of which cheapens an enticing initial concept.

In its opening moments, the film introduces us to four ambitious, yet low-rate magicians: Daniel (Jesse Eisenberg), who specializes in card tricks; Merritt (Woody Harrelson), a has-been mentalist struggling to maintain fame; Henley (Isla Fisher), a beautiful escape artist; and Jack (Dave Franco), a young con man and lock picker. Brought together by a mysterious figure with an intriguing offer, the four are tasked with pulling off elaborate magic tricks on “a global scale”— eventually using their combined skills to rob international banks in front of live audiences, elude bumbling authorities and radiate a collective arrogance like it’s a job requirement.

Left scratching their heads and fighting to catch up with the elusive culprits is Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), a detective who wears the befuddled and overwhelmed look well, and his new Interpol partner, Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent), who is determined to downplay her inexperience by gaining an understanding of the magicians’ trade. Interestingly enough, they arise as the film’s main focus, not the Horsemen, who pop in and out of the story to amaze and then escape.

This may result from Leterrier’s overdone obsession with utilizing one of magic’s most prized assets: distraction. In fact, just about everything in this film works as a distraction for something else — a cinematic game of “look over here, while I do this over there” that is meant to set up twist after twist. While that is alluring at first, after a while it’s evident that Leterrier has built his story on a foundation of illusion that is not only hard to keep up with, but about as stable as a tower of Jenga. When nothing is what it seems, who or what are we supposed to root for? In lieu of a viable answer to that question, some audiences may give up altogether.

Adding to the Horsemen’s tale is a magician’s chest full of other distractions, including a morally flawed insurance tycoon (played to pretentious precision by Michael Caine), a TV personality hell-bent on exposing magicians as imposters (Morgan Freeman), the looming story of a forgotten magician that disappeared after a trick gone wrong, and a wildly unnecessary romance that is downright annoying amid everything else going on.

Leterrier also constructs a curious tug-of-war regarding the notion of magic. Having spent a great deal of time debunking the Horsemen’s tricks, when it comes time to convince us that magic is real, we are forced to be skeptical. Nothing has prepared us to open our minds to the possibility of true magic when we are constantly told to close it. In a film that relies so heavily on upping the ante, such indecisive behavior hinders the story from becoming the confident spectacle it hopes to be.

Now You See Me, ultimately, runs on the fumes of the humorous banter and chemistry between an undeniably talented cast that is, sadly, wasted on bare-bones characters. Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher and Franco all ride on a sarcastic superiority that is amusing, but not a stretch for any of them. Laurent, a French actress best known for Inglourious Bastards, plays her soft-spoken type well against Ruffalo’s tightly wound detective, but their infuriatingly out-of-the-blue romance makes for nothing more than over-plotting. It’s only when watching Caine and Freeman — and their iconic voices — go head to head (in a New Orleans voodoo shop, no less) that a real excitement festers. Too bad, much like the film’s own building intensity, their scenes are short-lived.

What was initially an intellectual cat-and-mouse game that weaved through the false-bottom, mirror-changing world of magic and illusion, Now You See Me eventually spirals into a chase movie devoid of any depth that never justifies its frantic pace (complete with NYC car chases and acrobatic fight scenes). As the film’s saying goes, “The closer you look, the less you’ll see.” Luckily for us, there is no need to strain your eyes to see there is very little of true value up this sleeve.

Rating: 2 out of 4 stars

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Featured image: (L-R) Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Woody Harrelson star in “Now You See Me.” Photo Credit: Barry Wetcher, SMPSP © 2013 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All rights reserved.