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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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Release date: Dec 10, 2014
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All Critics (49) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (13)
[Magician] has an inelegant, cobbled-together feel that doesn't do justice to its subject. July 2, 2015 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
[Magician] has an inelegant, cobbled-together feel that doesn't do justice to its subject.
Wendy Ide
This film makes a valuable and stimulating case for brilliant Welles movies such as Chimes at Midnight and The Trial. July 2, 2015 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
This film makes a valuable and stimulating case for brilliant Welles movies such as Chimes at Midnight and The Trial.
Peter Bradshaw
A passible Welles hagiography which offers very little that you couldn't easily find in an Encyclopedia. July 2, 2015 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
A passible Welles hagiography which offers very little that you couldn't easily find in an Encyclopedia.
David Jenkins
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. June 30, 2015 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
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.
Tom Huddleston
Workman clearly reveres Welles, but he's never reverent. April 2, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Workman clearly reveres Welles, but he's never reverent.
Mark Feeney
A dutiful but slightly dull celebration of the multitalented impresario ... April 2, 2015 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
A dutiful but slightly dull celebration of the multitalented impresario ...
Michael O'Sullivan
The material is simply recycled. Yet Welles himself lights up the documentary. He was born to be interviewed, and it is a pleasure to watch him at different ages. April 5, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
The material is simply recycled. Yet Welles himself lights up the documentary. He was born to be interviewed, and it is a pleasure to watch him at different ages.
Tom Graham
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. May 3, 2018 | Full Review…
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.
James Mottram
Magician is a good primer for those who are unfamiliar with Welles, while functioning as a greatest-hits reel for students of the man. August 24, 2017 | Full Review…
Magician is a good primer for those who are unfamiliar with Welles, while functioning as a greatest-hits reel for students of the man.
Sherilyn Connelly
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. June 3, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
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.
Joe Bendel
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. May 23, 2016 | Full Review…
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.
Gerald Peary
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. December 21, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
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.
Tom Meek
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