Now You See Me

Scott Hardie: I don't even know what the twist is, but I know that there is most likely a huge one at the end, because it's a movie about illusionists. It seems to me that nearly every time Hollywood tells a story about professional illusionists and/or con artists, it must have some kind of huge "surprise" twist at the end, in which an arrogant grifter gets a comeuppance from a more experienced pro, or a mark who thinks they're outwitting the game gets played after all, and the whole movie turns out to have been a trick all along. This cliché is boring and lazy, and the degree of smugness of the characters makes it that much more insufferable; the trailer made Now You See Me's characters seem very smug indeed. So this is not my favorite genre, although it has been done well. (Oz the Great and Powerful is technically about a smug illusionist, but it's not that kind of movie.) − December 9, 2013 • more by Scott

Erik Bates: Well, Jesse Eisenberg plays smug very well. Almost too well. − December 10, 2013 • more by Erik

Scott Hardie: Really? I didn't see The Social Network, so I think of Eisenberg as the kind of unconfident, tongue-tied dweeb he played in Adventureland and Zombieland. He strikes me as a rich man's Michael Cera. − December 10, 2013 • more by Scott

Erik Bates: I suppose I see the smugness more from The Social Network. I haven't seen Adventureland, but I definitely agree with your assessment of him in Zombieland. − December 11, 2013 • more by Erik