Now You See Me (film)

Now You See Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Louis Leterrier
Produced by	Bobby Cohen Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci
Screenplay by	Ed Solomon Boaz Yakin Edward Ricourt
Story by	Boaz Yakin Edward Ricourt
Starring	Jesse Eisenberg Mark Ruffalo Woody Harrelson Mélanie Laurent Isla Fisher Dave Franco Michael Caine Morgan Freeman
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Mitchell Amundsen Larry Fong
Edited by	Robert Leighton Vincent Tabaillon
Production company	K/O Paper Products
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment
Release date	May 21, 2013 (2013-05-21) (New York City) May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31) (United States)
Running time	115 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$75 million[2][3]
Box office	$351.7 million[3]

Now You See Me is a 2013 American heist thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, and Edward Ricourt. The film features an ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mélanie Laurent, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman. The plot follows an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money, attempting to bring them to justice. This is the first installment of a series.

The film premiered in New York City on May 21, 2013 before its official release in the United States on May 31, 2013 by Summit Entertainment. The film received mixed reviews from critics but became a box office success, grossing $351.7 million worldwide against a budget of $75 million. The film won the Favorite Thriller Movie at the People's Choice Awards in 2014 and also received nominations for the Empire Award for Best Thriller and the Saturn Award for Best Thriller Film and Best Music. A sequel was released on June 10, 2016.

Plot

Four stage magicians, J. Daniel "Danny" Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), are each given a tarot card that leads them to the same empty New York City apartment where they find information from an unknown benefactor.

A year later, the four have their first major performance as the Four Horsemen in an elaborate Las Vegas show funded by insurance magnate Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). Their final trick appears to transport one of the audience members to the vault of his bank, the Crédit Républicain in Paris, where stacks of new euro bills are stored. At the magicians' command, the fans in the vault activate, drawing the bills into the vents and then showering the Las Vegas crowd with them. The euros are shown to be real, and the vault in Paris is found to be empty of its recent shipment of euros. FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent), are then partnered to investigate the Horsemen. The two question the magicians but have no evidence to hold them. Dylan and Alma turn to Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a former magician who now makes money by explaining the tricks behind magic acts. Thaddeus demonstrates how the Horsemen used a mock vault under the Las Vegas stage and says that the group must have stolen the money in Paris before it arrived at the bank, replacing it with flash paper that left no evidence.

Dylan, Alma, and Thaddeus follow the Horsemen to their next show in New Orleans, where their final trick appears to transfer millions of dollars from Tressler's private accounts to those in the audience, made up of people that were denied insurance claims by Tressler's company in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Dylan and Alma attempt to apprehend the four, but the magicians elude arrest. Tressler hires Thaddeus to expose the Horsemen in revenge for the loss of his money. Alma investigates the Horsemen and determines they are connected to a group called the Eye, a small group of magicians that claim to have access to real magic. She finds out one of the Eye's members, Lionel Shrike, had previously been exposed by Thaddeus but died in a locked-safe escape trick he was performing in an attempt to regain his standing. Alma suspects a fifth person is aiding the Horsemen.

Alma's research leads the FBI to the New York City apartment. When they raid it, three of the Horsemen escape while Jack recovers numerous documents and then leads the authorities on a high-speed car chase. Jack loses control of his car, causing it to flip and catch fire. Dylan is unable to save Jack, but manages to recover the papers, pointing to the Horsemen's next planned crime, stealing millions of dollars in cash out of a large safe of the Elkhorn company. Dylan, Alma, and Thaddeus find the safe has already been stolen, and when they track it down, its contents have been replaced with balloon animals. The Horsemen broadcast they will perform their final show that night at 5 Pointz, inviting the public to attend. The FBI and police converge on the scene and amid the chaos search for the Horsemen. The remaining Horsemen appear to the crowd, giving their fans a farewell and a message about an ulterior purpose, and then run to jump off a roof; Dylan attempts to shoot them but Alma holds him back. The three jump, turning into a shower of money over the crowd. The money is counterfeit, but the audience's race to collect it prevents the authorities from tracking the real Horsemen.

After the show, Thaddeus walks to his car, only to find it full of the money stolen from the Elkhorn safe. Assumed to be the fifth Horseman, he is arrested. Dylan speaks to Thaddeus in jail, where Thaddeus slowly comes to realize that Alma's theory was correct, and Dylan was the fifth Horseman. Dylan quietly walks away, leaving Thaddeus shouting "Why?". Elsewhere, the Horsemen (including Jack, who had faked his death using a duplicate car and an already-dead body) meet at the carousel in Central Park, and use their tarot cards to turn it on. Dylan arrives and welcomes the four to the Eye.

Later, at the Pont des Arts, Dylan meets with Alma and reveals he is Shrike's son. He brought the Horsemen together to get retribution for his father's death: the Elkhorn Safe Company for providing a faulty safe that led to the accident; Thaddeus for humiliating and impoverishing his father and forcing him to try the new trick to regain his standing; and the Crédit Républicain and Tressler's insurance companies for failing to pay out life insurance on Shrike afterwards. Alma, who has come into a romantic relationship with Dylan, decides not to turn him in. She takes a lock and a key that Dylan produces, attaching the lock among the other love locks on the railing and throwing the key into the Seine.

Cast

• Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel "Danny" Atlas / The Lover: An arrogant illusionist and street magician, and the ostensible leader of the Four Horsemen.
• Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes-Shrike,^[4] an FBI agent struggling to capture and bring the Four Horsemen to justice for their unique heist agenda. In the end, he is revealed to be an illusionist, a member of the Eye himself, Lionel Shrike's son and the mastermind behind the entire heist mission.
• Mélanie Laurent as Alma Dray,^[4] a French Interpol agent who is partnered up with Dylan Rhodes to investigate the Four Horsemen.
• Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney / The Hermit: A hypnotist, mentalist, and a self-proclaimed psychic. Originally more famous in his youth, his manager brother absconded with all his money, leaving McKinney with a long hard trek back to his former glory. Middle-aged, McKinney is the oldest of the Four Horsemen.
• Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves / The High Priestess: An escapist and stage magician. She is also J. Daniel Atlas' former assistant and ex-lover.
• Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley, an ex-magician who, for thirty years, has profited by revealing the secrets behind other magicians' tricks.
• Dave Franco as Jack Wilder / Death: A sleight of hand illusionist, street magician, and a talented impressionist of other people's voices. Additionally, he is a pickpocket, and is able to pick locks. In his early twenties, Wilder is the youngest of the Four Horsemen.
• Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler,^[4] an insurance magnate and the Four Horsemen's sponsor.
• David Warshofsky as FBI Agent Cowan.
• Michael Kelly as Agent Fuller, an FBI agent who serves as Rhodes' sidekick.
• Common as Agent Evans, Rhodes's supervisor at the FBI.
• José Garcia as Étienne Forcier, the account holder at the Crédit Républicain de Paris.
• Caitriona Balfe as Jasmine Tressler,^[4] Arthur Tressler's young wife.
• Elias Koteas as Lionel Shrike, a magician who drowned while performing an escape trick thirty years earlier. Dylan is revealed to be his son at the end of the movie.
• Conan O'Brien as himself

Production

On October 25, 2011, Summit Entertainment announced the release date for Now You See Me for July 18, 2013.^[5] On November 3, 2011, the company revealed the film's first synopsis and teaser poster.^[6]

Music

The official soundtrack, titled Now You See Me (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), for the film was composed by Brian Tyler and was released by Glassnote Records on May 28, 2013 for physical purchase and digital download.^[11] The film's soundtrack song "Entertainment", performed by French rock band Phoenix, was featured in the film's end credits.

Release

The film premiered in New York City on May 21, 2013 before its official release in the United States on May 31, 2013 by Summit Entertainment.

Reception

Sequels

On July 3, 2013, after the box office success of the film, Lionsgate's CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed that there would be a sequel to the film with production beginning in 2014 for an unspecified release date.^[20] Louis Leterrier stated that he would return to direct the sequel;^[21] however, in September 2014, it was confirmed that Jon M. Chu would replace Leterrier as director. Eisenberg, Ruffalo, Harrelson, Franco, Caine and Freeman were set to reprise their roles for the sequel. Fisher was unable to participate because of her third pregnancy and was replaced by Lizzy Caplan. The film was released on June 10, 2016, titled Now You See Me: The Second Act.^[22] On October 2, 2014, Michael Caine said in an interview that Daniel Radcliffe would be playing his son in the film.^[23] Filming began in late November.^[24] On May 22, 2015, Lionsgate revealed the details about the development of the sequel, when CEO Jon Feltheimer announced that they had "already begun early planning for Now You See Me 3."^[25]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Now You See Me (film)

• Official website
• Now You See Me on IMDb
• Now You See Me at AllMovie
• Now You See Me at Metacritic
• Now You See Me at Box Office Mojo
• Now You See Me at Rotten Tomatoes