| MAGIC |
 1978 - USADirector: Richard Attenborough
- Reviewed by Jennifer
Corky is a pleasant, "weirdly timid" fellow who's spent years perfecting card tricks for his magic show. Unfortunately they're a little square for the comedy club circuit, and the audience tends to drift when he takes the stage. They talk, they twirl their hair, they quietly mock him, and then one night Corky has enough. Something snaps and he starts swearing up a storm, flailing his arms and acting like a madman. This gets attention, and turns into Corky's ticket to success. No, Corky doesn't swear at the audience every night—he learns ventriloquism and gets his dummy, Fats, to do it. Everyone thinks this is super funny, and soon he's making appearances on all the hot talk shows. Corky's agent, Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith), lands him a shot at his own NBC show, but Corky balks at the required medical exam. Why should he have to submit to an exam? What are they implying, anyway?! That he's mentally unstable? That he takes orders from Fats? The nerve! Mr. Greene kindly suggests that Corky is afraid of success, and gives him a few days to sort himself out. Corky sneaks out of town, and seeks refuge at a bed and breakfast run by the parents of an old schoolmate. He's pleasantly surprised to find the lovely Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margret) working there herself. Not only does she remember Corky, but she's a huge Fats fan, and she's delighted to have their company. The girl of Corky's dreams is lonely and unhappily married, and it looks like he might actually, really truly, mind-bogglingly have a chance with her. Corky is obviously pleased at the way things are progressing, but Fats is jealous. He makes vulgar comments about Peggy, hurls insults at Corky, and soon it's no longer clear who's pulling the strings. When Ben Greene finally tracks them down, he sees that something is horribly wrong, something that goes way beyond their identical outfits (shudder). He asks Corky to be himself for just five minutes, an effort that is positively painful to watch. As Corky twitches uncomfortably and shoots nervous glances at Fats' lifeless body, it's clear that Ben Greene will never be forgiven for this cruel demand. Fats quickly becomes a murder weapon (in more ways than one), and Corky's problems mount with the arrival of Peggy's overbearing husband. Now Corky must allay suspicions of infidelity, convince Peggy that he's normal, deal with Fats, and keep everyone from finding out about Mr. Greene. Under the direction of Richard Attenborough, the film reaches an almost frenzied level of tension without ever losing its restraint. Though Magic is icky and unsettling in many ways, Anthony Hopkins' flawless performance makes it weirdly captivating and watchable. He's so convincing as this demented loser that it's easy to forget he's acting.... Given the subject matter, we'll have to hope that he was. |
| Home | Currently Playing | For Rent | Video Obsession ©2005 Moviepie e-mail us |
People are forever saying that clowns are scary, but in my opinion, ventriloquists and their dummies are infinitely creepier. Um, hello? You've got a smart-ass doll on your arm, and you pretend like you're not the one making it talk! How is that normal? If poor Sybil had a puppet for each one of her personalities, she could have taken her act on the road instead of becoming a poster child for mental illness. Not convinced? Check out Anthony Hopkins as Corky in Magic.
