Now You See Me, Now You Don't (2005) User Reviews

A long-overdue review of a film that deserves recognition.

[avianchaos · 9/10 · 25 March 2006]

This movie is an incredible mesh of storytelling and style.

I first saw this film at a festival in Texas, and I was immediately blown away. The camera work in "Now You See Me, Now You Don't" is a thing of slow beauty, in tune not only with the haunting use of light, but also with the revelations contained within the story. The camera plays the role of a character that truly encompasses the viewing experience, unlike most films where the viewer is an omniscient third party simply watching things happen. Szasz blows out the windows in many of the shots, using white light and sterile environments to bring out the humanity in his characters. The story throws you for a loop - Szasz pulls you in one direction, giving you evidence upon evidence that all seems to add up, only to surprise the viewer by skillfully revealing the true reasons behind these strange events. The climactic scene is as emotionally powerful as it is aesthetically beautiful.

The only bad thing I can say about this film is that a few of the people I've shown it to didn't fully understand the ending. However, I never felt any confusion after watching it, and most people responded as I did. Szasz doesn't dumb down the story for you; he leaves a gap and expects the viewer to make the logical connections. He is subtle without being vague. All in all, you will be hard pressed to find a better way to spend 30 minutes of your life than watching this film.

Beautiful, Crushing, and Haunting

[ambassadortex · 10/10 · 23 October 2006]

Just saw this at the Cackalacky Film Festival in Charlotte, NC. It's hard to imagine a more concentrated and haunting portrait of dread (overwhelming all the way up to the revelation), grief, loss, fear, and isolation.

It's so potent that I can't imagine many people wanting to watch it several times - probably just twice in order to appreciate how they put everything together. This is the kind of movie that still delivers an emotional punch (right to the gut) when you think about it days (weeks? months?) later. The performances are subtle, nuanced, and powerful - very believable for this situation.

The filming and editing show great skill and an awareness of how and when to use jarring and "edgy" stuff **in order to serve the story and emotional arc** No flashy or pretentious "style for style's sake."

The short version of this all is: see this film. Not many other films (or songs, or paintings, etc.) have captured what "Now You See Me" captures. It is brave and true.

Comment

[luvingbooks · 10/10 · 13 November 2006]

Excellent and dead on portrayal of the pain and loss parents (couples) suffer in the loss of a child. I wish there was a way to contact the director/writer personally on the films web-site but this will have to do. I saw this film at the Northhampton Film Festival in Massachusetts this past weekend. No, I didn't know where it would take me. Two weeks ago was the 30th anniversary of the loss of my child. And I had just told my friend how difficult it had been for me. As the plot revealed itself, my pain became excruciating. I had to leave the theater. For 10 years I had been trying to tell this particular friend about this pain, this grief. Now she knows. That's all I could say among my sobs, "that's what it feels like." This film NAILS the emotion, the pain, the separateness, the compartmentalizing, the coping strategies. All I can say is thank you. It hit me hard, but was very helpful. And to the director, if you have suffered a loss of a child, I am sorry for your pain as well. Great job. Awesome performances. Susan