Lawbolisted Powerful

Steineded How sad is this?

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Tatyana Chadwick I decided to watch this movie one week ago because of Alyson Michalka. I like her very much as a singer and twice I saw her as an actress. I wanted to make sure that I really like this girl. I like Disney movies because they are very bright and colorful. This one was also very good! It is a story about magic, about television and teenagers, who think that they can become great magicians. Her name is Alyson and she was there - she saw everything by her own eyes. It is not so simple as it can seem to be. A mysterious secret which was hidden by the great magician can be revealed. Alyson was very good at her role. Why? She was very-very active and I saw a lot of emotions on her face! She is really talented! A good job! "Now you see it" - one of the best Disney movies for family, very magical, real and interesting. Movie about friendship and rivalry. I recommend it to everybody!

Mikayla Shriver Come on, people! This movie was amazing, funny, and sweet. Aly Michalka and Johnny Pacar were amazing in their roles, and Frank Langella....he was excellent at playing an evil, power-hungry, smarmy old guy who wouldn't know the difference between friendship and relationship.Allyson Miller- the perky (almost secretive), sweet, sensitive teen with intelligent eyes and an attitude to match- wants desperately to get into a cool reality TV show as a producer. But first, she has to find a decent magician. At last, when all hope seems lost, she comes across Danny Sinclair, who at first seems to be a flop until an amazing, unexpected trick changes Allyson's mind. The only problem is, Danny doesn't seem to know how he did the trick. When they reach the Magic Mansion (hello! serious Harry Potter vibes to this building), the host (a magician), Max, greets them and seems to have a particular favoritism towards Danny, despite the other two good magicians, Zoey and Brandon. But then, the next day, during part one of the competition, Danny pulls another amazing stunt and Max gives him three out of ten! And yet, Brandon's trick is cool, but anyone who is smart knows Danny caused the trick to happen, seeing as he assisted Brandon. Then there are several more unexplained events, a plot of murder, and the worst of it is, Allyson might find herself caught in the middle of it all. She might wind up choose between her wish to be Danny's friend, and her loyalty to her first job. The dangers are very, very real- if she's friends with Danny, she could get caught in the crossfire, if she stays loyal to her job, she would have no choice but to watch Danny die. Of course, the people who have seen the movie know what she chooses. This movie is awesome, a story of friendship, trust, and magic. And the chemistry between the two main characters is great. If this movie has a sequel, I'll watch it willingly. Hopefully, there will be more romance in a sequel, but I doubt Disney would allow that. But I love this movie so much. I would really like to tape it so I can watch it over and over. So, overall, I would absolutely, totally give this movie a 10, an A+, a 100, because it's an amazing movie and it's a true story of friendship.

Brandt Sponseller As reality television shows are all the rage in the early 21st Century, this film posits an interesting fictional one: "The World's Best Kid Magician". Adding to the novelty, the producers are hiring "kid producers" for individual segments. Each kid producer's job is to find then follow around a candidate for the best kid magician. Allyson (Alyson Michalka), a smart, perky (maybe too perky) teen, has been hired as one of the segment producers. We follow her as she tries out a succession of horrible kid magicians before finding Danny Sinclair (Johnny Pacar), who at first seems like another disaster. It turns out that he has ability but just can't control it. Will he be able to hone his craft and win the show? And just how does he do his mind-boggling yet "accidental" tricks? While the premise is awfully interesting, this is one of Disney's lesser live action films. However, as I think most Disney films (live action as well as animated) are spectacular, a lesser Disney film isn't too bad. There are a number of problems, but I ended up giving Now You See It . . . a 7, or a "C".As I often prefer to do, I'll get the problems out of the way first. Director Duwayne Johnson (who has been an editor on three David Lynch films, including Blue Velvet (1986), and who directed three episodes of the "Twin Peaks" (1990) television series--an odd pedigree for a Disney helmer) makes two moves that do not work very well. One is obvious--parts of the film seem like a reality show, complete with the cheesy music that those usually have, and the over-dramatic dilemmas and "challenges". We could argue that the intention was to spoof such shows, but those sequences do not play very satirically. They just seem like an especially low budget reality show. Maybe this stuff would work for you if you're a fan of such shows, but I tend to hate a lot of them (I've only liked the Andy Kaufman-like practical joke ones, which seem much more mocking of the genre than Now You See It . . . does).The second problem for me, although this was much slighter, was that as an extension of the reality show mentality, Dunham shoots a few sequences in a faux documentary cinéma vérité style, ala The Blair Witch Project (1999). Most of the material closest to that style (such as the kids walking down the hall towards the "secret chamber") is very brief, and some of it even works, but the interview-style bumpers of Allyson seem too much like telling instead of showing.The production design is quite impressive. I love idea of the "Magic Mansion", which is where the bulk of the film is set. (A similar setting was also used to great effect in Clive Barker's 1995 film, Lord of Illusions.) Especially the library, and the secret room in what amounts to the mansion's "dungeon", accessible only through a bank vault-styled door, have a strong Harry Potter vibe to them.The magical performances, while occasionally banal, were just as often intriguing and well staged. Besides, some of them were supposed to be banal--the idea is that these are mostly inexperienced young kids on the upward slope of the learning (and skill) curve, after all.The overarching plot, which involves a few twists and which is occasionally quite nefarious, is very well written by Bill Fritz, who was a story producer and story editor on the legitimate reality shows, "Fear Factor" (2001) and "House Rules" (2003), making him an apt choice.The film is also well acted by the two principals, Michalka and Pacar. The third principal is Frank Langella as Max, who is at least very bizarre and interesting here. I couldn't recall seeing Langella since 1979's Dracula (at least I hadn't seen him in a starring role), so suddenly seeing him 25 years down the pike was strange in itself, now that he's much paunchier and he's adopted a tight-cropped, graying Anton LaVey look to accommodate his receding hairline. As Max, he tends to have an odd smirk, maybe a smarminess, which comes across as fairly campy/cheesy at first but that turns out to be appropriate for the character in retrospect. However, it seems a bit inexplicable why the other people interacting with Max on a regular basis wouldn't think he's a bit loopy. So maybe Langella is being a bit over the top and hammy, just not in a scenery-chewing way. But, I like those qualities. Heck, I thought that Jon Voight should have won an Oscar for Anaconda (1997)! While it's not one of the better Disney live action films, Now You See It . . . is without a doubt one of the more unusual ones. It even has some interesting subtextual layering of the appearance/reality distinction that's the heart of magic. Enjoyable despite its flaws, you shouldn't miss this one if you see it airing again. It would also be worth picking up on DVD if it makes it to that format and you are a huge Disney fan, as I am.

FasterThanChris I was surprised how good this movie was. It's not the best movie I've seen but was pretty good. Some of the magic tricks could have been done a little better. Neat effects in some parts though. I would recommend this movie to anyone wondering if they should see it. Especially if they like magic. Almost of the actors gave a great performance. The main plot line is pretty far fetched in that magic is real. One way they could have greatly improved this movie was to have a few more magic tricks. The magic also doesn't have the feel of watching a performer on the street where there is no preparation. I'd say that only about half of the tricks were done right there on camera. The rest involved film tricks and such. It was a pretty good story line. If you've like the other Disney Channel shows, you'll like this one.