WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
Co-directed by Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein, the film brings to light the life of professional magician turned professional debunker of the paranormal James “The Amazing” Randi. Influenced by one of the other greatest magicians of all time, Harry Houdini, Randi spent his initial career performing amazing feats of illusion, trickery, and escape, to the pleasure of fans all around the world. However, he soon found that while he himself freely admitted to deceiving audiences purely for entertainment’s sake, he was less enthused by those out there who were doing the same type of things-but for profit and deliberate deception of the masses. And so began a new crusade for Randi as he made it his business to become a true foe to deception by going to incredible lengths to disprove the “reality” of psychics, channelers, and faith-healers. From using his own close friend and partner, artist Jose Alvarez, to create a fake guru to illustrate how easily people are duped, to utilizing a private detective to expose a faith healer, to setting up scientific projects that also exposed the fraudulent nature of people with “psychic” abilities such as the renowned Uri Geller, Randi’s mission brought him both acclaim and criticism from fans at large and the scientific community. But when one unexpected and shocking exposure hit very close to home, one has to wonder whether Randi was indeed the master deceiver for entertainment he was-or was he himself the deceived?
Utilizing not just the direct words and interviews with Randi himself, but also of other well-known individuals such as Alice Cooper, Bill Nye, Adam Savage, Penn Jillette, Jamy Ian Swiss, and even Uri Geller, the film paints yet another potent picture of how easily we as people are taken in by what we see on the surface, rather than truly analyzing or researching the actual facts. Watching footage showcasing the experiments and projects Randi concocted to effectively and definitively debunk and expose so many frauds is alluringly eye-opening, shake your head inducing, and whimsical fun to take in. And you see in his demeanor that Randi truly was doing all of this to make us take that step back and be willing to realize and see the difference between deception for entertainment vs. deception for no other reason than flat out lying for lying’s sake and to enrich themselves by taking advantage of the mass naiveté. But, there is a hard hitting reality that Randi himself had to face in his personal life, beyond his choice to come out at 81 years old, and it was a sobering moment for him to handle given the connection he had with a long-standing friend and life partner. In total, the film takes us on an equally comical, eccentric, sobering ride into this hidden world of the paranormal and the people who claimed its “powers” in order to lie and cheat everyone around them, but do it so well, that until Randi came along, no one was the wiser.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
