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Critics Consensus: It may not quite live up to the superlative in its title, but Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles serves as a passable primer for those seeking an introduction to the legendary filmmaker.
Critic Consensus: It may not quite live up to the superlative in its title, but Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles serves as a passable primer for those seeking an introduction to the legendary filmmaker.
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All Critics (48) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (13)
If you're a budding film student or a newly-minted cineaste looking for a quick and easy brush-up on the all-time great American director, Magician will serve perfectly well.
Workman clearly reveres Welles, but he's never reverent.
A dutiful but slightly dull celebration of the multitalented impresario ...
If you have more time and want to get into Welles on your own, an afternoon watching YouTube videos followed by a few evenings of watching his best movies might be even better.
It's a fine introduction, if a bit slight for fans craving new insights.
Whatever its shortcomings, "Magician" accomplishes quite a bit as a corrective, and it also gives one an hour and a half in the company of Orson Welles.
Solid, straightforward but immaculately researched, Chuck Workmans documentary is a fitting tribute to the maverick Welles. If he were alive today, hed surely raise a glass.
Magician is a good primer for those who are unfamiliar with Welles, while functioning as a greatest-hits reel for students of the man.
Magician certainly makes you want to watch all of Welles's films again, including the ones that we can't, which means it probably accomplishes its goals.
I'm sad to report that at a mere 1 hour and 34 minutes Magician is rushed and sometimes choppy, leaping through Welles's bountiful life.
What Workman has assembled is the kind of film Welles would have been happy to part of. It's a unique, warm and fair portrait of a man who was both genius and joke and well aware of it.
I'm a pretty big Welles geek, so I enjoyed the experience anyway... but I can't imagine this will enlighten anyone who just wanders in off the street.
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