An Honest Liar (2014) User Reviews

A compelling character study in a fantastic industry that deserves his protection.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 8/10 · 21 July 2015]

I've always loved magic. I study films and music to the point that while I still appreciate art at its best, the secrets have been spilled. I want to keep the secrets of magic under wraps so the best showmen can still captivate me. I'd actually never heard of James Randi, a self- proclaimed substitute for Houdini after his death, or maybe I had but forgotten him, so it was a delight to find out he'd been involved in significant events in magic that I looked into - such as Uri Geller's live exposé. Even in his 80s he's a charismatic entertainer who's fun to watch. He knows the value of the secrets of magic, and hates when it's abused to manipulate people for profit, rather than entertain them for profit. It's very satisfying to watch Randi's successes as frauds are exposed and the filmmakers have a wealth of footage to illustrate their points. The chapters may seem to end prematurely, but it culminates in its crisis point in the third act in a way that keeps a balanced argument as to whether what Randi is doing is justice or invasive of people's freedom and hope. But what's most engaging about the doc is Randi's own life and the hidden side of him of his partner. An Honest Liar is a very well put together doc about an important figure in magic everyone should know about.

8/10

Spoiled Story

[rhhdvh · 7/10 · 13 April 2015]

For me, this is a movie about a great professional magician, sadly spoiled by a secondary personal relationship plot line introduced about 1/2 way though. This action erases the early cinematic and plot perfection leaving the whole experience flawed. The movie started aimed at one outcome, but then switches to a different target. The switch comes across as contrived, sort of a mixed metaphor.

The genre switches from comedy to tragedy, without an epic hero; the second half tragic protagonist is not Randi. The movie shot a lot of scene arrows, but at different targets, unnecessarily watering down the entire effort.

I came away liking and profoundly respecting the art and science of James Randi, who is quite the magician in his own right and time, turned detective and debunker of charlatans. His personal life was artfully dealt with at first, then paraded like dirty laundry when it wasn't. Maybe the storyteller's intent was to debunk the debunker, but the magic of the reveal was lacking, not consequential, but incidental. Therefore, the original comedic genre became a tragedy without pity or fear.

I recommend it for the first half alone, the part about the Amazing Randi, his acclaimed magic and debunking. Still, maybe walk out 1/2 way though when the protagonist shifts character unnecessarily in a spoiling way, turning a great wine of a movie sour.

"Fighting the fakers"

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 4 April 2015]

"An Honest Liar" (2014 release; 95 min.) is a documentary about the life and works of James "The Amazing" Randi, a magician and escape artist along the lines of the infamous Houdini. Like Houdini, Randi later becomes a fierce opponent/prosecutor of those who lie to and manipulate the public for personal and monetary gain (such as the so-called faith healers and those who proclaim to channel the dead).

Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by Tyler Measom (previously of "Sons of Perdition") and Justin Weinsteiny (previously of "Being Elmo"). In the early part of this documentary, we get an introduction as to Randi's background. Let me admit upfront that I had never heard of him. He left school at age 17 after having seen a magician's show in Toronto, deciding that he wanted to become "the next Houdini". By all means, Randi built a fabulous career (there are multiple clips from the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson). But things get a lot more interesting of course, once Randi decides (in the 1980s) to devote his efforts to exposing the cheaters and manipulators. The expose on self-proclaimed faith healer Peter Popoff is nothing short of brilliant (and stunning). "We're fighting the fakers", exclaims Randi. Towards the end of the documentary, when we get a taste of Randi's current personal life, there are a couple of further twists which I did not see coming.

"An Honest Liar" recently opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati, and I finally had a chance to see it on its second weekend. The early evening screening where I saw this at was quite well attended, somewhat to my surprise. In the end, I found "An Honest Liar" an okay documentary, but not as compelling as certain other recent documentaries like "Finding Vivian Maier", just to name that one. Still, if you are into documentaries, "An Honest Liar" is worth checking out, be it in the theater, or eventually on Amazon Instant Video or DVD/Blu-ray.

I loved this movie

[iraisrael · 10/10 · 25 February 2015]

This week a stunningly beautiful, brilliant and poignant new documentary about James Randi comes out and it is as riveting as any narrative film I have ever seen. "An Honest Liar: Truth and Deception in the Life of James 'The Amazing' Randi" paints a luscious portrait of James Randi and a fascinating history of the crusades that he has waged in the name of honesty - as well as two provocative discrepancies in his personal life.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

And sometimes revealing untruths is even stranger than anything you can wrap your mind around.

James Randi is a vigilante. He is exceptionally bright, gifted, articulate, audacious and relentless in a quest for truth that often consists of denouncing psychics/magicians who fall below his moral barometer. He feels that taking advantage of the limitations of consciousness as entertainment is perfectly acceptable; however, taking advantage of the limitations of consciousness to scam people for financial gain or trying to pass it off as "science" is utterly abhorrent.

James Randi devised elaborate hoaxes over many years to prove that renowned scientists could be easily fooled by magicians into thinking that such gimmicks as psychokinesis (supposedly moving or influencing objects with one's mind) were real and not optical illusions.

For four decades Randi took particular umbrage with master showman Uri Geller and publicly implored him in his book "The Truth About Uri Geller" and on multiple television appearances to stop referring to himself as a psychic. His main disgust was at the money wasted by lauded institutions such as Stanford University investigating illusionists such as Gellar. In the end, it is Uri Geller who sells fake diamonds on QVC while James Randi's Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge remains intact.

Great way to learn about Randi's story

[InterlinkKnight · 9/10 · 5 March 2015]

I admire Randi since I was a kid because he was passion about the truth, and his effort to expose BS. I always hear about he was a magician, but never got the chance to see him in those days. Gladly, this documentary tell his story from the beginning to the present, so there is a lot of footage of his magician days.

The story sometimes jumps back and forward, but I think in a good way. Overall is told chronologically.

A long story compress in so few minutes. But don't feel like was too short or too long.

Also is great to see people that was involve in all those stories talking about it in the present.

If you are a fan of Randi, for sure you most watch it.

Debunking Mystics with a Retired Magician

[drqshadow-reviews · 6/10 · 15 December 2015]

The cunning, combative career of James "The Amazing" Randi, slightly better known as a professional disprover of psychics and faith healers than as an escape artist and illusionist of his own right. His career arc is an unexpectedly exciting one - he rubbed elbows with Johnny Carson and Alice Cooper in his prime - and as showy as one might expect from a lifelong performer. I found his transition right from the stage into the professional debunking game to be a natural one, not to mention noble (he considers work as a magician to be entertainment, while paranormal hoaxes are just thievery) but some see hypocrisy there. While it stays on the subject of his career, the documentary is a fascinating one. It switches gears in the final half-hour to focus on his personal life, where he's ironically caught by a private swindle during production, but apart from the obvious parallels to his working life I didn't find that long aside terribly interesting. Still, a good story, though perhaps not one that needed a feature-length documentary to explore.

A story so captivating, it's hard to believe it has truly happened

[tomstyle-81196 · 10/10 · 18 July 2015]

The title 'An Honest Liar' should honestly be the only thing that you read, before watching it.

For those who won't do that, I will summarize the elements that make it my favorite documentary:

-Nicely structured storytelling

'An Honest Liar' is long, but it has a calm yet captivating pace. Interviews are mixed up with enough found footage to prevent a talking-heads syndrome.

-The turbulent life of Randi

This is a magician that can tell you his life's story for hours, without boring you.

-Controversial chapters

Randi has devoted his life to revealing the truth, but is hiding one in the meantime. This plot wraps around the story, and is told in a way that allows you to feel with the reason of this deception. For skeptics on the matter, this might broaden their horizon.

-Scope of the plot

The scope of 'An Honest Liar' is big, just as the life of Randi. It will probably touch some familiar subjects, from interesting angles (fi: Faith-healers). It even reached out of the borders of a documentary when the interviewer partakes in a lie himself, allowing you to consider the broad definition of deception.

-It's educative nature

There are several life-lessons told throughout the documentary. What it can teach the viewer is very subjective, but there are lessons about deception to be learned in there for most of us.

-The atmosphere

Interviews being held seated, but the camera work is varied enough, and settings capture the atmosphere of the interviews. This is most noticeable in one of the more emotional scenes near the end.

-What I disliked

The lack of action in the own footage. There is, for instance, a lawsuit going on at the time of recording, but the camera isn't in on the action. This didn't degrade much from my overall viewing pleasure, so I won't hesitate to grant 'An Honest Liar' 10 out of 10.

A must-see for all sceptics

[Phil_Chester · 10 October 2019]

I've always been a huge fan of James Randi, and this documentary makes me love his work even more. The Popof story alone makes this film worth watching, but there's tons more about him here. Definitely a must-see for any sceptic.

Randi Revealed

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 7/10 · 21 March 2016]

I can honestly say that I love magic. No, not the hoodoo spooky stuff where people do incantations but the entertaining style of magic with card tricks and floating women. Doug Henning and David Copperfield style magic. And one of the most legendary performers of magic has been the Amazing Randi. Not only has he performed with amazing skill he's also taken the task of exposing film flam man and con artists who would prey on the innocent and gullible. This makes him a hero in my book.

The title of this film involves a play on words of sort. We're told that magicians are actually liars to the nth degree but that unlike those who prey on people they are up front about it. They tell the audience in advance I'm going to lie to you and make you believe I have powers that don't exist when in fact I'm playing a trick on you. But there is something else to James Randi that many never knew about that made him an honest liar of a different sort. It wasn't something he quite hid but it wasn't something he talked about either. It was the fact that he was gay.

But the movie doesn't focus solely on that. Instead it covers the life of this amazing magician from early no through his rise as a performer of note, appearing numerous times on programs like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He appeared on stages around the world. And at the height of his fame he stepped back and began a crusade to stop people from abusing tricks and skulduggery to harm folks into believing they could actually perform miracles they could not.

The biggest scam he uncovered (and one I'd heard of prior to seeing this film) was a television minister who claimed her could heal the sick. This man would encourage people to toss away their prescribed medicines claiming they no longer needed them once he healed them. It turns out he was using an earpiece and the information he had on members of the audience was being fed to him by his wife in the back, information taken from cards people in the audience had filled out when they arrived. Randi exposed him for what he was and how he did what he was doing. Sadly for those who believe in the healing powers of faith it is charlatans like this that besmirch the name of those they claim to represent. Randi knew this and set out to shine a light on them.

The movie not only talks about his life as a performer and debunker of false mystics, it talks about his life long relationship with his partner Jose Alves. This becomes another form of an open lie taking place as well. Having read about it before I wasn't stunned when it becomes known in the film just what that hidden piece of information is but I won't reveal it here for those unaware.

What is nice about the topic of Randi's being gay in this film is that it doesn't turn it into a political stance. Their affection for one another is not something that they feel needs a huge display on film. You know by the end of the film just how much these two mean to one another and that's fine. Whether you agree or disagree with people who are gay doesn't make a difference in this film. It never becomes an issue. It is accepted and discussed and that's all there is to it.

The work that Randi did in stopping charlatans who preyed on the weak was a noble effort. When he's gone I wonder who will be left to take up his cause. I'm hoping someone will do so, someone who has as much knowledge on the topic as he does. As for magicians there are always those who will amaze us with their abilities. Watching this film you witness just how great a magician he truly was/is and appreciate him for how amazing a performer he has been.

You will also see that he has and always was an honest liar. He told us up front he planned on deceiving us. He did just that in more ways than one. And yet it never affected how we viewed him or how much we enjoyed what he was able to do. After watching this an appreciation for all he provided will be the end result.

Everybody must see this movie

[deleau · 10/10 · 28 June 2015]

Without detailing into spoilers,

This movie provided enough interesting lessons spanning much wider than just a movie. I think it's pretty unique in its underlying message, at least I don't know of any other movies with these lines underneath. I may even fall in a separate category.

For scientists this movie will show you that there are other variables besides "controlled conditions" and "a bunch of references" which you should be taken into account, when performing tests with humans: humans may deliberately fraud your research. As far as I remember that was never a topic or even a consideration during classes on how to conduct controlled experiments.

It also taught me that, no matter how smart you are, people will always be able to fool you. So you do need strict conditions and help of trained professionals when performing tests or experiments in this area.

The movie also taught me that even if you put the plain proof that people are frauds in front of people, it is no use. Apparently people disregard the truth even with evidence and for reasons I can't yet comprehend, donate gazillion of dollars to frauds even with recorded proofs of fraudulent behavior.

The movie made me aware that knowing the truth is one thing but assuming other people are interested in the truth is another thing.

Apart from these and other pretty unique things the movie lets you think of ... it gives an insight in the career of Randi. I was not completely aware of his complete career, which was an eye opener.

I also did not know how broad his operations stretched, the determination during the 2 years of paranormal research was absolutely stunning.

If I would have to categorize the movie in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection I would create a separate drawer "Truth".

Interesting , Cruel . Slightly Unfair

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 12 May 2015]

!!!! SPOILERS !!!!! Yeah I know it's a documentary but I'm taking no chances

James Randi ? One of the first names I discovered via getting connected to the internet . I know over 3.600 IMDb comments beg to differ but when I first had an internet account in Febuary 2001 my favourite sites were the skeptics ones exposing and demolishing everything to do with faith healing , para-psychology and other nonsense . One name that constantly kept cropping up , almost on a par with being a secular God of the skeptical movement , was James Randi , a Canadian born sceptic who started out as a magician and who later became an exposer of frauds , hoaxes and other naughty rip off merchants . This documentary tells of his life , his great successes and his present life which despite all his fame involves something of a personal tragedy of sorts

The documentary works best when it concentrates on Randi exposing cheats and how gullible the public are when it comes to being cheated . Anyone remember The Carlos Hoax ? I'm too young too remember but archive footage shows Randi taking a young South American called Jose Alvarez who claimed to channel spirits of the dead to Australia , making up easily checkable fake resumes and getting "Carlos" on every Australian news and documentary show Carlos strutted his stuff with the dead . He could have been a household name today but it was up Randi and Alvarez themselves to stick their hand up and state it was all an act and was done merely to show how lazy , incompetent and downright useless journalists can be when checking facts . Then we get the famous exposure of evangelical faith healer Peter Popoff whose direct contact with God was down to the much less miraculous miracle of wearing an earpiece and getting his wife to give names and ailments of people in the congregation . Randi's (in)famous and long running feud is also covered along with a few now forgotten self promoting self proclaimed mystics

Now one thing you can't really accuse Randi of is being lovable . From what I've seen of him he's short tempered , doesn't suffer fools and takes no prisoners . This isn't a criticism and if DOCTOR WHO was an American show Randi would have been born to play the anti-heroic cantankerous incarnation of the first Doctor . Don't believe for a second that this is a sycophantic glowing love letter to James Randi and the clue is in the title - AN HONEST LIAR . As it turns out Randi is a homosexual which he revealed late in life . Again not a criticism . And he partnered up to Jose "Carlos" Alvarez many years ago . Again not a criticism . But as it turns out Alvarez isn't who he claims to be and is one Deyvi Pena who entered America on a false passport , Cue a fair amount of unspoken innuendo that the man who exposed so many con artists has become a victim of sorts to a con artist . I thought this aspect of the documentary which has a feel of undisguised schadenfreude was rather unfair and just a little bit cruel towards Randi and ends an often fascinating documentary on a downbeat , negative vote

Really enjoyed it, though I found latter parts a bit "too much"

[drpage-pagewizardgames · 9/10 · 5 August 2015]

I really enjoyed this documentary for the most part. The parts discussing his rise to fame in the skeptical community, early life, and antics are what make this documentary wonderful. If the documentary alone was more on these things, and maybe focused briefly on his more recent personal life I would have given it a 10. Honestly as much as I admire Randi and his life choices, I do think the documentary dragged way too much on his homosexual relationship. They build up to it, but focus far too much on it. Maybe if it spent 5 minutes on it or something that'd be great, but way too much time was spent on it when I would have loved to see more of the "side parts" where they discuss more of his historic attacks on charlatans. I know in the USA that's the "big thing", but it really seems out of place in an otherwise very well communicated, clear documentary that does him justice.

Strongly would recommend.

That's magic

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 17 October 2016]

James Randi is known as a master magician, escapologist and illusionist. In recent years he is better known as a man who exposes fake psychics and faith healers.

He regards conjurers as honest people, psychics and faith healers as being dishonest, who swindle people from their money and at worse dangerous with their quack medicine.

The film traces Randi's life from downtown Toronto to when he first saw his magic show and his interest in Harry Houdini. He was a regular in the American late night talk show circuit since the 1970s.

However from the 1970s onward when the likes of Uri Geller and Peter Popof showed up on television with their amazing feats, Randi felt the need to expose these charlatans. Geller's spoon bending was just good conjuring and in The Johnny Carson Show, Geller was stumped that night because the producer had followed Randi's advice in setting up the props.

Popof used Jesus to cure people but he knew their ailments because it was all fed to him on a mic wired up to him as his researchers talked to the audience before hand.

Still as Geller said these days despite people being more rational and educated, despite Randi's efforts there are more psychics, faith healers and flimflam men than ever before. Both Geller and Popof are plying their trade.

The last part of the film delves into Randi's personal life. The film hints at his sexuality and his relationship with a young Venezuelan José Alvarez who has been his companion for several decades. However Alvarez suffered an expose of his own with immigration authorities causing Randi no end of troubles and heartache as to what he really knew.

This was an enjoyable watch, nice to see him embarrass the likes of Geller and Popof but really they are coated with some kind of Teflon as they have no shame. The money is out there and Geller and Popof just reinvented themselves and still grabbed it. The film hints was this all for nothing?

A bit muddled....

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 26 July 2015]

This is an interesting biography about James Randi (a.k.a. 'The Amazing Randi') but it's also one that seems very muddled and confusing towards the end--such that I really wasn't sure WHAT the filmmaker intended with this movie. Most of the film is about Randi's crusade to expose charlatans who prey on people by using magic tricks and labeling them either psychic powers or powers from God. When talking about this, the film was at its best and the first 85% of the film makes SANE viewers admire and love Randi and his work.

However, towards the end, Randi's partner gets in trouble with the law for identity theft. His reasons seemed understandable but instead of just leaving the story there, the filmmaker ODDLY chose to then include a bunch of interviews with Uri Geller--all of which was left unchallenged by Randi or his associates. Giving a questionable character like Geller this opportunity just seemed bizarre as well as ran counter to the spirit of the rest of the film. I didn't understand this at all and it completely confused the film--and seemed unnecessary and, perhaps, a bit underhanded. Overall, I say watch the film but just turn it off near the end or read up on Geller--he's certainly no saint!!

The Skeptic Inside

[tributarystu · 8/10 · 17 July 2015]

There truly is something mystical about "An Honest Liar", that allows it to transcend its flawed structure and be relevant in spite of it. At its core, the ambition of the film is to establish and walk the line between what constitutes an illusion and what rises to the rank of deception. To achieve this, it takes a good, long look at the life of James Randi, renowned magician and skeptic of things in the paranormal.

Going beyond its overarching ambition, An Honest Liar builds on three parts - Randi's life as an artist, his challenges as a skeptic and his (intertwined) personal travail. The first is as interesting as magic can be, without ever revealing the secret behind tricks - I'm sorry, illusions. But the pace really picks up as the case for skepsis takes shape, trying to untie the blatant lies and manipulation from the willing suspension of critical thought and disbelief. The question of what really constitutes the truth, as expressed through the power of belief, both religious and - ironically - scientific, gets a fair, balanced and creative tackle. Ultimately, Randi's personal life and some surprising insights into the act of deception lying close to its core, becomes a bit of a meta-analysis of the previous two parts.

The problem is that this last segment mostly fails, because it appears very tangential to Randi's quest and shifts the focus on fairly mundane personal matters that are contorted somewhat to fit the wider arch.

Yet, it came easy to me to go beyond it.

Just because the directors' reach exceeded their grasp does not mean that the film doesn't work artistically, as an expression and an experience of boundary blurring between truth and lies. It achieves this by dragging you into taking a stand by the end, in a narratively artificial yet intellectually testing personal battle for Randi, after seventy minutes of case building and creating an emotional connection with the subject. In that, it is fun and relevant, stressing the strength of belief over fact, over truth and the challenges that lie in dealing with it.

Moving, sad, joyful--about fakery and true love

[alanjj · 9/10 · 29 March 2016]

I expected this to be about Randi's debunking of psychics and religious healers, but it was also about his much younger boyfriend (now husband), and his struggles to stay in the USA, despite having stolen someone else's identity. Very touching. How did I miss Randi's coming out (at age 81!)? I was a bit disappointed that it did not go into his debunking of religion in general, and it revealed none of the magic tricks--even as Randi is exposing someone like Uri Geller as merely a magician, not a psychic. Nonetheless, the documentary was riveting. An Honest Liar. The Amazing Randi (James Randi was also a great conversationalist--he had an all-night radio show on WOR-New York when I was a teen, competing with Long John Nebel and Brad Crandall.)

The legacy of James the Amazing Randi

[estebangonzalez10 · 7/10 · 23 July 2015]

"Magicians are the most honest people in the world. They tell you they're going to fool you, and then they do it."

A great title for a film that revolves around a magician who is devoted to uncovering the lies told by faith healers and psychics around the globe. The subject of this documentary is James "The Amazing" Randi, who was once a brilliant magician and escape artist, but has now decided to put his talents into use to unmask those people (the con artists) who are making money out of false claims and trickery. The documentary begins with an interview where Randi explains how a magician's job is to tell its audience he or she is going to fool them and make them wonder how he or she pulled it off. That is a very different thing from a person who claims to have special psychic powers or a special communication with God and use those abilities to lie and deceive people. Randi's passion for magic and his humanity led him to use his abilities to show others how they are being deceived without ever revealing the trick. The way he went about uncovering these people is what makes this documentary compelling as he creates fictional characters or personas to fool audiences, the media, and even scientists before revealing to them that it was all a scam and proving therefor how easy it is to deceive others when you have abilities to perform these tricks. Randi himself is a charismatic man and we see it through some old TV archives in interviews with Johnny Carson, Larry King, and Regis Philbin.

The documentary is pretty standard as it goes back and forth between interviews and TV footage, but what makes it stand out is the story it is telling which I wasn't familiar with. I was so completely unaware of what this film was about that I didn't even know it was a documentary until it began. In the beginning we are introduced to this great escape artist who marveled audiences with his stunning tricks. He explains he dropped out of High School at the age of 17 to join a circus and that is where his adventures began. Once we are introduced to the man himself, the documentary begins to explore some of the psychics he began to unmask. The first thing Randi decided to do was get his good friend Jose Alvarez to pose as a psychic who is traveling to Australia. They invent several media clips about his accomplishments in the US and once he arrives in Australia he immediately fools everyone because the media never even bothered to check the reliability of the sources they were providing them with. After exposing how easy it is to fool the media, he continues to do so with the scientists as well. There is one great clip about how they unmasked a faith healer named Peter Popoff by proving that his wife was telling him what to say through an earpiece from some prayer requests cards that they had asked the people to fill out prior to the service.

Despite the great amount of footage shown of how Randi unmasked these psychics they still continued to fool a lot of people. Randi couldn't understand why so many people failed to acknowledge that they were being fooled and clung on to their beliefs. Then as we were approaching the end of the documentary we were exposed to a surprising and ironic twist that allowed us to view this in a different light. Without giving away any spoilers, Randi himself was being deceived and after the deception he too decided to cling on to his love and accept it. Perhaps the lesson we might learn here as ironic as it sounds is that we choose to see what we want to see and accept the deceptions we want to accept. The twist kind of took everyone by surprise so it wasn't explored all that much, but it still seemed to make an interesting point to what was being said. Rand's personal life wasn't as interesting as his work, but the end justifies why it was introduced in the first place. This was a good watch but it didn't do anything groundbreaking for the genre.

A Biography About An Important Man

[atlasmb · 9/10 · 28 August 2015]

This documentary is a biography and it is in roughly chronological order. I feel the need to mention that fact in response to some who say they think the film has distinct parts and is disjointed. But this is not a drama and it was not written to achieve a story-ending resolution.

I enjoyed the film very much. I was somewhat familiar with the work of The Amazing Randi (James Randi), but this film educated me regarding the extent of his work debunking hucksters and those who use deception to take from others, e.g. so-called psychics and faith healers.

He started as an accomplished magician whose role model was Houdini. Eventually he made it his mission to expose those who misused their talents to defraud. The film outlines the various charlatans he exposed and how he accomplished that. It also reveals how these men have fared over the years and what that might mean regarding human nature.

On a more personal level, Randi's life has had its own mysteries and dramas.

The filmmakers interviewed Penn Jillette and other practitioners of magic regarding his place in the history of the discipline and his efforts to save the public from hoaxsters.

In my opinion, Randi is a treasure who deserves a biography. His story documents the largest part of the modern-day struggle between those who dupe the public for their own gain and those who seek to protect the public from them.

I agree that it was a bit muddled...

[kamfg · 6/10 · 1 December 2021]

It was overall a good watch. I just can't figure out exactly what I just watched. It's an autobiography meets a debunking of psychics and telekinesis meets an emotional ending that has nothing to do with the rest of the film. The first 90% is Randi's narrative of his life and work. Then suddenly his arch nemesis, Uri, finally gets a chance to defend himself but it's oddly placed at the end when the film is no longer focused on Uri but instead focused on Randi's lover getting in legal trouble. Overall good but I agree with others that the viewer could easily skip the last 15 minutes.

No spoons were harmed in the making of this film

[dopefishie · 8/10 · 20 May 2022]

No spoons were harmed in the making of this film.

The Amazing Randi is a legend. I've read one of his books and seen him countless times on TV. This documentary is a real treat if you're a fan of magic and healthy skepticism. I like how it shows his human side and wish it spent more time the personal side of his life. But it also spends a good bit of time covering some of his best shenanigans. This really needed to be a series. They crammed a lot in here.

A good story, though perhaps not one that needed a feature-length documentary to explore

[eminkl · 6/10 · 18 April 2020]

The cunning, combative career of James "The Amazing" Randi, slightly better known as a professional disprover of psychics and faith healers than as an escape artist and illusionist of his own right. His career arc is an unexpectedly exciting one - he rubbed elbows with Johnny Carson and Alice Cooper in his prime - and as showy as one might expect from a lifelong performer. I found his transition right from the stage into the professional debunking game to be a natural one, not to mention noble (he considers work as a magician to be entertainment, while paranormal hoaxes are just thievery) but some see hypocrisy there. While it stays on the subject of his career, the documentary is a fascinating one. It switches gears in the final half-hour to focus on his personal life, where he's ironically caught by a private swindle during production, but apart from the obvious parallels to his working life I didn't find that long aside terribly interesting. Still, a good story, though perhaps not one that needed a feature-length documentary to explore.

Liar, honest, skeptic god or just man?

[hankyank · 9/10 · 20 August 2015]

This is a story on the tension between reality and illusion.

Randi early in life: " I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery."

Randi, the great illusionist and escape artist, becomes a fighter for truth later in life. Living a mission to uncover illusionists who are saying they are in contact with the gods like, Uri Geller and Popov, who were claiming psychic powers.

Randi proves they are just illusionists, debunking their self-claimed divine powers. Randi believes this is extremely important as people place far to much trust in these fraudulent con-men.

I find it interesting to see the human will to believe, people ignoring the proof offered by Randi, wanting to believe in divine powers on the earth thereby feeding the mouth and pleasures of the con men in the world.

I wonder is the influence of con men a bad thing?

A person in the documentary said it quite well, the energy in the room with Popov was amazing. With his self claimed godly connection he created a belief, a huge energy filling the room, giving people faith, a rush. An energy people lack in normal life.

The conclusion is that Randi's skeptic words are an inconvenient truth. Because what is an earth without divine powers? This energy in room with Popov is real. If Randi is right, are we just Muppet's running around being born, feeding ourselves and dying?

Randi is a front-man of the skeptics, believing, that we will have a better world without this "god on earth" illusion.

With this believe and his well placed actions against the frauds he became a god in itself for the skeptics.

It is extremely beautiful to see Randi was living a large part of his life with a huge lie and illusions as well. Thereby proving his no god as well. No god for the skeptics. Just a normal man; an honest man, a liar, all in one. There is divinity in that.

We all have secrets, even James Randi

[Theresa-3215 · 6/10 · 26 April 2023]

This is a very interesting bio documentary of the Amazing Randi. James Randi exposes the fakery of spoon bending and Christian faith healing. Which is very admirable.

I was disappointed that the film wasn't more "in depth " about this. I seem to remember Randi's books and interviews where he shows how to do the tricks he debunks.

Anyway, he comes off as a lovable curmudgeon. After all he is exposing the charlatans -who prey on people and take their money. He is the hero in the first part of the film.

But then what happens. He gets exposed for his dishonesty. It turns out he is a gay man who hid this fact ( and his relationship) to be safe. It's understandable as far as that goes. The public back then was not as tolerant as it is today. There is however a great deal of cover up of the identity of his partner.

I'm not sure what the point of the film was . At first I was rooting for Randi, but near the end I wasn't. I felt deceived by him.

I wondered what else was he hiding.

Again, it's fine to be what you are . The whole part about his lover's identity being changed was confusing to me.

Again it's understandable if it was because of discrimination.

It just seemed that at the end, I was the one duped.

Wasn't sure the direction of the film.

Wishing I watched either the beginning or the end.

Just a Jumbled Mess

[chicagopoetry · 5/10 · 8 May 2015]

Very interesting subject matter is presented haphazardly to create a pretty boring documentary called An Honest Liar. The biggest let down in this movie is all the claims that he's figured out how the con artists are doing their tricks, but save for the preacher using the ear piece, we are never clued into any of it. How were the spoons bent? How did they make the thing under the glass dome move? We get our hopes up to be enlightened and then the secrets aren't revealed as if it doesn't even matter. And so much attention is given to his gay relationship; I wonder if he was straight and involved with a woman, would his relationship be so prominent? I understand why "Jose" is an important part of the story, but he's not THAT important that he should take up nearly half of the movie. All in all this is a poorly executed documentary because it left me confused and unsatisfied. I don't feel I know any more about this guy after watching this film than I did just by seeing a critic's review of the film. Really, claiming the guy was faking it when he bent the spoons but then not bothering to tell us how it was accomplished was just as much of a rip off as being fooled into believing the guy was bending the spoons in the first place.

It blows me away how gullible people are.

[swoondrones · 10/10 · 26 February 2021]

Randi is an honest liar. Geller is a sham. How does one man make a career bending spoons like he is psychic? He just bent spoons and keys. People are so stupid believing such a charlatan. Watching him try to validate himself as a psychic is disgusting to watch. Describing himself as an original painting. The magician is honest. Geller is the forgery.

Wake up, people.