He
has been a sworn foe of all swindlers and conmen, but James Randi had two great
nemeses in his life: Uri Geller and a milk can. However, the magician, escape
artist, and one man bunco squad received his own lesson regarding the
relativity of truth during the course of Justin Weinstein & Tyler Measom’s
documentary, An Honest Liar (trailer here), which premiered
at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.
"The Amazing" James
Randi literally ran away with the circus. Learning sleight of hand and other
illusionists’ secrets, Randi realized magicians could easily misapply their
skills for criminal purposes. His respect for the craft kept him honest and
made him resent those who used the tricks of their trade to fleece the
gullible. While still a practicing illusionist, Randi set about exposing faith
healers and phony psychics. In a twist of fate, a nearly fatal attempt to
replicate Houdini’s milk can escape essentially forced Randi to become a
full-time truth-teller.
Frankly,
those unfamiliar with Randi’s greatest hits might be surprised by the time and
logistical planning required by some of his operations. Yet, the media was
often just as resentful of Randi’s efforts as the fraudsters he uncovered. The
Carson-era Tonight Show was a notable
exception. In fact, Carson’s staff dealt a seemingly fatal blow to
up-and-coming psychic Uri Geller by following Randi’s prop handling
instructions. It has been said before, but nobody played Johnny Carson for a
fool.
Many
of the intrigues Honest documents are
absolutely fascinating, bringing to mind the hit-or-miss skullduggery of
Rodrigo Cortés’ Red Lights, except
they are considerably more interesting. They also happen to be true. The third
act revelation is also a real surprise most causal viewers will not see coming.
It is not exactly a focal concern, but Honest
reminds the audience of the appalling state of human rights in Venezuela
when that shoe finally drops.
Honest delivers plenty
of magic and flim flammery, but it has a highly pronounced dramatic arc. Compared
to the breezy fun of the Ricky Jay doc, Deceptive Practice, it is much more serious and sober. Clearly, Weinstein & Measom won over Randi’s
trust, capturing some truly wince-inducing long dark nights of the soul. The filmmakers
also scored an on-camera with Geller, the unrepentant spoon-bender, for the
sake of fairness and completeness.
