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A thoughtful and surprisingly layered documentary enlivened by its subject, An Honest Liar serves as a well-deserved tribute to a fascinating life.
All Critics (38) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (1)
"An Honest Liar" is a fascinating look at what the truth means, and how it means different things to different people. It's also a reminder that no one has a monopoly on it. Not even the Amazing Randi. Apr 9, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
"An Honest Liar" is a fascinating look at what the truth means, and how it means different things to different people. It's also a reminder that no one has a monopoly on it. Not even the Amazing Randi.
Bill Goodykoontz
Anyone who can challenges faith healers, psychics and mediums who claim a special bond with the dead - and often wins those challenges - deserves a standing ovation. Mar 27, 2015 | Rating: 3.0
Anyone who can challenges faith healers, psychics and mediums who claim a special bond with the dead - and often wins those challenges - deserves a standing ovation.
Richard Roeper
Randi's story suggests a modern-day footnote to Herman Melville's novel The Confidence-Man, reflecting the strange interplay between show business, religion, and hucksterism in American life. Mar 20, 2015 | Full Review…
Randi's story suggests a modern-day footnote to Herman Melville's novel The Confidence-Man, reflecting the strange interplay between show business, religion, and hucksterism in American life.
Ben Sachs
Randi's a sly charmer, and an engaging guide through the film ... Mar 20, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Randi's a sly charmer, and an engaging guide through the film ...
Moira MacDonald
After getting to know the TV personality who unmasked psychics as simply magicians themselves, it makes getting to know the man behind the crusade even more powerful. Mar 20, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
After getting to know the TV personality who unmasked psychics as simply magicians themselves, it makes getting to know the man behind the crusade even more powerful.
Molly Eichel
Unexpectedly revelatory and deeply moving. Mar 20, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…
Unexpectedly revelatory and deeply moving.
Godfrey Cheshire
However, nothing compares to the momentum of a great story, and though "An Honest Liar" may occasionally get a little too crafty for its own good, when it works, it's pure magic. Nov 15, 2018 | Full Review…
However, nothing compares to the momentum of a great story, and though "An Honest Liar" may occasionally get a little too crafty for its own good, when it works, it's pure magic.
Stephen Saito
Comprehensive and fascinating, the filmmakers have crafted an engaging and entertaining portrait of a man who is paradoxically a likable and honest liar out to set the record straight. Jun 6, 2016 | Rating: A- | Full Review…
Comprehensive and fascinating, the filmmakers have crafted an engaging and entertaining portrait of a man who is paradoxically a likable and honest liar out to set the record straight.
John Fink
An Honest Liar does entertainingly allow that for our peculiar species, true self-awareness sometimes requires a little self-deception. Jan 1, 2016 | Full Review…
An Honest Liar does entertainingly allow that for our peculiar species, true self-awareness sometimes requires a little self-deception.
Jonathan Kiefer
In the end, when all the shells have been shuffled and it's time to pull back the curtain, An Honest Liar is less about amazing you than it is about touching you. Dec 21, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
In the end, when all the shells have been shuffled and it's time to pull back the curtain, An Honest Liar is less about amazing you than it is about touching you.
Tom Meek
...a truly revelatory and touching endeavor. Jun 8, 2015 | Rating: 89/100 | Full Review…
...a truly revelatory and touching endeavor.
Philip Martin
Mankind may be awash in more con men and faith-based swindlers than ever, but precious few are bold enough to step forward into the light of reason, even for a million bucks. Bravo, Mr. Randi. Apr 16, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Mankind may be awash in more con men and faith-based swindlers than ever, but precious few are bold enough to step forward into the light of reason, even for a million bucks. Bravo, Mr. Randi.
Marc Savlov
I couldn't stop watching this picture about the unknown Canadian The Amazing Randi and the lengths to which he disproves the "magic" abilities of Uri Gellar and others. Randi's story is also complex in many ways and it is fascinating to see it unfold.
Super Reviewer
There was lots of buzz over this doc among my Skeptic friends. All the screenings sold out at the Cleveland International Film Festival, so I was very excited to see it pop up on Netflix. The archival footage, photos, and interviews are all combined to form an entertaining, informative, and surprising picture. Many people have heard of James Randi carrying on Houdini-type magic acts and debunking psychics and faith healers. He is very clear that as a magician he is going to deceive you, but he finds that a trickster deceiving an audience and claiming real mystic powers is reprehensible. Hence, Randi is an honest liar. I, for one, did not know that The Amazing Randi is gay and in a long-term relationship with a younger man. As in most documentaries, and as couples tend to do, Randi and Jose awkwardly bicker in front of the cameras, but they also demonstrate a deep love for each other. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I won't say much about the twist lie that is uncovered between these two. It is the height of irony and the source of the deepest emotions that this film helps expose. Being a film with cuts between space and time, which inherently is similar to a magic trick, a bit of illusion, is implicitly interesting for illustrating this subject.
An extraordinary tale about deception and the lies we unwittingly chose to believe. I gotta admit -- I never saw the twist at the end coming! The once-famous magician "The Amazing Randi", noted for debunking the likes of Uri Geller and Peter Poppoff , shows the depths to which people will descend to believe. Truly extraordinary, profound and exceptional as a documentary or human belief.
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