Directed by:
Richard AttenboroughScreenplay:
William GoldmanCinematography:
Victor J. KemperComposer:
Jerry GoldsmithCast:
Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, Ed Lauter, E.J. André, Jerry Houser, David Ogden Stiers, Lillian Randolph, Beverly SandersPlots(1)
Anthony Hopkins is Corky, a painfully shy, failed magician who finds overnight success as a ventriloquist. His brash, foul-mouthed dummy, Fats, becomes a huge nightclub hit. With his star on the rise, talent agent Ben Greene (Burgess Meredith) arranges an important shot at national TV. But the pressure of failing the network's required physical sends Corky into a panic. With Fats in tow, he flees the city to a nearly-deserted resort in the Catskills run by the love of his youth, Peggy Ann Snow (Ann-Margret).
Peg's spent years trapped in a loveless marriage with her high-school sweetheart, Duke. In Corky, she sees the chance for a loving relationship and accepts an offer to run away with him. After they make love, Corky confides to Fats that he may leave show business altogether. Fats becomes furious and lashes out at him, playing on his guilt and insecurity. Now under Fats' control, Corky is manipulated into a series of violent and unexpected confrontations.
(official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (3)
If you like ominously quiet, slow-moving films that are so fantastically acted that you can't tear yourself away from them anyway, don't hesitate. Rather than a horror film, however, Magic is a psychological thriller in which Anthony Hopkins absolutely shines, and Jerry Goldsmith's creeping soundtrack with its simple central motif played on a harmonica is one of those soundtracks you won't forget.
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The pace is very slow, but Anthony Hopkins’ brilliant performance as Corky holds the film above water. Every look of his makes clear that there is something wrong with him, and since the whole story revolves around his character and he basically never leaves the screen, you’ll enjoy plenty of those looks. The tension caused by the mere appearance of Corky in the vicinity of a potential victim of his mental disorder is ubiquitous.
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Magic works much better as a psychological drama than a horror movie, because the tropes of the genre that are inevitably going to turn up here without any surprises and in a fairly classic form. Still, if you already found the ventriloquist's dummy on the poster very disturbing, you have a lot to look forward to. Anthony Hopkins is phenomenal in the dual role (if you can call it that), and certainly carries the whole movie. Plus, I have to say, I was surprised at how dialogue-driven, funny and raunchy the movie was at times. William Goldman is undeniable. To sum it up – you will not get a fright, but you will be interested in the well portrayed characters and you will be totally convinced of the inner conflicts of the main anti-hero.
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