GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Alan J. Jacobs I expected this to be about Randi's debunking of psychics and religious healers, but it was also about his much younger boyfriend (now husband), and his struggles to stay in the USA, despite having stolen someone else's identity. Very touching. How did I miss Randi's coming out (at age 81!)? I was a bit disappointed that it did not go into his debunking of religion in general, and it revealed none of the magic tricks--even as Randi is exposing someone like Uri Geller as merely a magician, not a psychic. Nonetheless, the documentary was riveting. An Honest Liar. The Amazing Randi (James Randi was also a great conversationalist--he had an all-night radio show on WOR-New York when I was a teen, competing with Long John Nebel and Brad Crandall.)

Sean Lamberger The cunning, combative career of James "The Amazing" Randi, slightly better known as a professional disprover of psychics and faith healers than as an escape artist and illusionist of his own right. His career arc is an unexpectedly exciting one - he rubbed elbows with Johnny Carson and Alice Cooper in his prime - and as showy as one might expect from a lifelong performer. I found his transition right from the stage into the professional debunking game to be a natural one, not to mention noble (he considers work as a magician to be entertainment, while paranormal hoaxes are just thievery) but some see hypocrisy there. While it stays on the subject of his career, the documentary is a fascinating one. It switches gears in the final half-hour to focus on his personal life, where he's ironically caught by a private swindle during production, but apart from the obvious parallels to his working life I didn't find that long aside terribly interesting. Still, a good story, though perhaps not one that needed a feature-length documentary to explore.

MartinHafer This is an interesting biography about James Randi (a.k.a. 'The Amazing Randi') but it's also one that seems very muddled and confusing towards the end--such that I really wasn't sure WHAT the filmmaker intended with this movie. Most of the film is about Randi's crusade to expose charlatans who prey on people by using magic tricks and labeling them either psychic powers or powers from God. When talking about this, the film was at its best and the first 85% of the film makes SANE viewers admire and love Randi and his work. However, towards the end, Randi's partner gets in trouble with the law for identity theft. His reasons seemed understandable but instead of just leaving the story there, the filmmaker ODDLY chose to then include a bunch of interviews with Uri Geller--all of which was left unchallenged by Randi or his associates. Giving a questionable character like Geller this opportunity just seemed bizarre as well as ran counter to the spirit of the rest of the film. I didn't understand this at all and it completely confused the film--and seemed unnecessary and, perhaps, a bit underhanded. Overall, I say watch the film but just turn it off near the end or read up on Geller--he's certainly no saint!!

Tom Franse The title 'An Honest Liar' should honestly be the only thing that you read, before watching it. For those who won't do that, I will summarize the elements that make it my favorite documentary:-Nicely structured storytelling 'An Honest Liar' is long, but it has a calm yet captivating pace. Interviews are mixed up with enough found footage to prevent a talking-heads syndrome.-The turbulent life of RandiThis is a magician that can tell you his life's story for hours, without boring you.-Controversial chapters Randi has devoted his life to revealing the truth, but is hiding one in the meantime. This plot wraps around the story, and is told in a way that allows you to feel with the reason of this deception. For skeptics on the matter, this might broaden their horizon.-Scope of the plot The scope of 'An Honest Liar' is big, just as the life of Randi. It will probably touch some familiar subjects, from interesting angles (fi: Faith-healers). It even reached out of the borders of a documentary when the interviewer partakes in a lie himself, allowing you to consider the broad definition of deception.-It's educative nature There are several life-lessons told throughout the documentary. What it can teach the viewer is very subjective, but there are lessons about deception to be learned in there for most of us.-The atmosphere Interviews being held seated, but the camera work is varied enough, and settings capture the atmosphere of the interviews. This is most noticeable in one of the more emotional scenes near the end.-What I disliked The lack of action in the own footage. There is, for instance, a lawsuit going on at the time of recording, but the camera isn't in on the action. This didn't degrade much from my overall viewing pleasure, so I won't hesitate to grant 'An Honest Liar' 10 out of 10.