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Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Neil Welch The problem with Magicians, the movie in which David Mitchell and Robert Webb make their attempt to transfer from TV to big screen success (and like so many British comedy duos, fail to do so) is that it feels like no more than an over-glorified sketch from their TV show.That in itself isn't necessarily a criticism - it rolls amiably along, with sufficient in the way of plot and subplot interest to hold the interest - but the scale of its ambition seems to fall short somehow. Films don't have to be big to work as cinema movies, but they do have to have an awareness that the medium isn't quite the same. Here, Mitchell and Webb play more or less exactly the same characters they play in Peepshow and, more to the point, one is aware that they are "TV acting" from the very start.But the story is OK, with uncertainty as to whether the beheading which starts the film is accidental or deliberate until the very end, and there are some pleasing supporting characters (Karl's manager, Jessica Hynes(Stephenson)'s glamorous assistant and Andrea Riseborough's office girl are all people whose company I enjoyed.All in all, a failure in its attempt to transfer Mitchell and Webb to cinema (in which they are, at least, in good company), but a noble failure which is not without merit.

bob the moo Karl and Harry are magician partners, regularly wooing their audiences with their brand of mystery and wonder. However two events tear them apart. The first is Harry's discovery that Karl is having an affair with his wife. The second is Harry accidentally beheading that same wife during a mishap with a guillotine. Many years go by and Karl is still working as a magician but is trying to break into the TV niche held by David Blaine, Derrel Brown and others of that ilk. Meanwhile Harry is selling knives in the supermarket to earn his living. With the Magic Shield coming up, Harry turns to Karl to reunite temporarily and win the contest. However barely minutes into it, old tensions resurface and the pair split again to go head-to-head.It is a little concerning to watch the progress of the career or Mitchell and Webb. I first came across them in the quite brilliant Peep Show, where their delivery was excellent against the strong material. Next I saw their sketch show and, although it was a bit hit and miss, it was still reasonably amusing. Afterwards comes this film which again is a step down even if the move into films appears to be a positive step. The concept appears to offer up potential but somehow the script doesn't really give them the material to work with. For some reason the script keeps them apart too often and gives them romantic subplots (of a sort) to deal with. The film is at its best when they are together, clashing with one another in the awkward and uneasy way they do. However it must be said that these moments are not frequent enough and mostly the film is just not that funny.The rather British "awkward" humour is OK but not as well done as those used to it will have seen it done other places. Mitchell and Webb are both pretty good when the material is given to them but again, this is not often enough for what they have shown they are able to do. The support cast is full of familiar faces from Spaced, Saxondale, The Thick of It and several other strong British comedies. However nobody really have the chance to shine apart from the wonderfully letchy Edge. Stevenson (now Hynes), Hardiker, Riseborough, Capaldi and others are all OK, but it is the lack of material offered them that limits them.Overall then an OK comedy but nothing more than that. Viewers get glimpses of what the film could have been or what the cast are capable of and, while these glimpses are occasionally funny they do not make up for the fact that they are only glimpses. Credit to Mitchell and Webb for trying to show that they are much more than just Peep Show actors, but Magicians is not the vehicle that will do that for them.

TMokko Well, I haven't seen Peep Show and I don't know how great Mitchell and Webb are in that production, but evaluating on the basis what I saw on Magicians - I have only one message to those guys: "Don't quit your day job!" Script wasn't good - jokes were boring and dumb, characters stereotypical and obnoxious. Whole idea behind the script was immature and incomplete. I had two or three laughs when watching this movie - and I'm grateful for those, but everything else was just clumsy and predictable.David Mitchell's character(Harry) was just silly and irritating. If I would ever meet that kind of rambling fool I would beat him up just to shut him up. :) Karl (Robert Webb) was a little bit more likable character - but still quite boring.There are two kinds of people - those who like British comedies and those who don't. If you belong to the first category then you MIGHT get something out of this film... but I doubt that.

fictional_void Reading the other comments, made me laugh. Seriously, what did you expect? Peep show isn't laugh out loud funny and neither is this, yet it puts a smile on your face and perhaps an inside chuckle but hey, it was obviously no blockbuster comedy, but something to see on a quite date or with a couple of friends for those who have already seen Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman 3 or any other major movie.I found it enjoyable, especially the who concept of him having chopped his wife's head off (A little morbid yes, but a good idea.) The gay manager, and the whole 'medium' thing were original 'peep show' humour ideas, and it was good the fact that it was not totally about sex. (About 10 % wasn't) and we had a nice view of arse.So all in all, a good movie for a rainy day.