Sadly Over-hyped

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Usually, it might seem out of place to make 1950s LA the setting for something involving magical realism, but they pull it off here, with Bridget Fonda as an amateur magician going to Mexico to further her studies with a Mayan shaman. While the story mostly focuses on her trip down there, and how a detective (Russell Crowe) follows her, my favorite parts were the scenes with the Mexican guy, and what he does towards the end. When people in Latin America first started telling stories centering on magical realism, they probably never envisioned that! Anyway, "Rough Magic" isn't a great movie, but a good look at a part of Latin American culture that many people in the US unfortunately don't know about. Worth seeing.PS: This movie will probably give you a new view of rabbits.

I happen to think it is a pretty good movie. It's got magic and love and Russell Crowe and it's nice. It's an entertaining love story, with a touch of magic. How can you not enjoy that? Also, did I mention it has magic in it? ;)

Rough Magic is one of those movies that doesn't seem to be what it is, and at times doesn't seem sure itself what type of movie it is. It begins with a heroine on the run, and quickly becomes very surreal. I liked the characters, but the story wasn't quite strong enough to hold it all together, and it dissolutes almost completely at the ends, as if they ran out of ideas and decided to end it. Still, it's worth watching for the bizarre spins of events and some very funny moments.

This is definitely the best thing Bridgit Fonda has ever done. Claire Peploe's little masterpiece was not appreciated by most critics, but I absolutely loved it. It's a film about magic. All the different levels and layers of magic - from stage illusion to multiple levels of reality and spiritual experience, to the magic of love. All the different levels and layers of magic are intertwined - woven together so that magic is a part of daily life. The film is witty, surprising, challenging and, above all, lots of fun. Now that it's out on video, don't miss it!