Sorry, this movie sucks

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Based on the 1976 novel of the same name by William Goldman who adapted it for the screen, this is an excellent, thought provoking and often very frightening psychological horror film. It is superbly directed by Richard Attenborough, my favourite director of all time. In several respects, however, it is a very atypical Attenborough film: it is a horror film (his only one), it is not based on real events (the first of only three) and it is not in any way an epic film. As a matter of fact, there are only four actors in the film after the first half an hour or so. Several actors given fairly prominent billing in the opening credits have five minutes screen time or less! I presume that Attenborough became interested in the novel during the making of his previous film "A Bridge Too Far", which was likewise written by Goldman. He clearly had little interest in the horror genre since he never revisited it, which is a shame as he is able to maintain a high level of tension for most of the film. I would have liked to seen more Attenborough helmed horror films. The score by Jerry Goldsmith is not up there with his absolute best but it's not far behind either.Anthony Hopkins gives wonderful performances as both the ventriloquist Corky Withers and his foul mouth, extremely creepy dummy Fats. From the first scene, Corky is shown to be an erratic person but, as the film progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that he is mentally unbalanced. The exact nature of his condition is never specifically stated but multiple personality disorder seems to be the most obvious conclusion. At one point, the dummy's eyes seem to move on their own, suggesting that, no pun intended, that there is more than meets the eye. However, in this instance, I prefer the psychological explanation as opposed to the dummy actually being alive. Fats represents the darker side of Corky's nature and he compels him to do things that I do not think that Corky would be capable of on his own. The voice that Hopkins uses for Fats is enough to send shivers down your spine when he tells Corky to kill. Hopkins learned ventriloquism for the film and became very skilled at it. Admittedly, you can see his lips move on occasion but that's true of some of professional ventriloquists that I have seen such as Edgar Bergen, whose daughter Candice appeared in Attenborough's next film "Gandhi" incidentally. I think that Hopkins deserved a Best Actor nomination for playing Corky and Fats. Appropriately, he received separate billing as both characters in the closing credits.The film has a small but very strong cast. Ann-Margret is excellent as Corky's high school crush Peggy Ann Snow, a kind, emotionally vulnerable woman who feels neglected by her often absent husband Duke and finds new love with the ventriloquist. She and Hopkins have great chemistry and their scenes together are always entirely believable, something which I feel is particularly important in a film like this. As Corky's cigar chomping agent Ben Greene, Burgess Meredith is not only perfectly cast but a delight. At first, Greene (nicknamed "Gangrene" by Fats) seems like the stereotypical ruthless Hollywood agent but he is genuinely concerned by Corky's mental instability when he learns that he cannot prevent Fats' personality from manifesting itself. The role of Greene was originally offered to Laurence Olivier but he was unavailable, perhaps because he was making "The Boys from Brazil" at around the same time. Olivier is one of my absolute favourite actors but I think that Meredith was better suited to the role. In any event, Olivier's health was quite precarious by then and there are a few scenes that I don't think that he would have been able to do physically.The only other major cast member is the great character actor Ed Lauter who plays Duke, who comes across as a good man in spite of the fact that he is not a particularly loving husband. He is depressed due to his perceived failure as a provider and fears that he will lose Peggy Ann as a result. Although he does not appear until after the hour mark, Lauter manages to invest his character with pathos and I really felt for him. Duke was more than the walking cliché that most husbands are in films dealing with essentially loveless marriages. E.J. André, David Ogden Stiers and Jerry Houser are great in the small roles of Corky's mentor Merlin, Todson and the taxi driver respectively. Like many directors, Attenborough employed a stock company of actors but Hopkins is the only one present on this occasion. Even his brother-in-law Gerald Sim doesn't get a look in for once! Overall, this is a classic and underrated example of both Attenborough's work as a director and the psychological horror genre. I think that part of the reason why I found the film so effective is that I always thought that ventriloquists' dummies were more than a little creepy. I am clearly not the only one as the premise of an evil dummy, either as a living being or as an additional personality of the ventriloquist, has been explored in several other works such as the earlier films "The Great Gabbo" and "Dead of Night", two separate episodes of "The Twilight Zone" (not ones featuring Meredith, unfortunately) and by DC Comics through the Batman villain Arnold Wesker / The Ventriloquist.

Magic is directed by Richard Attenborough, has a screenplay by William Goldman based on his novel and stars Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith and Ann-Margaret.Anthony Hopkins gives one of the greatest performances of his career as the troubled ventriloquist who descends deeper and deeper into madness. Hopkins actually learnt ventriloquism for this role and is very good at it.Corky(Anthony Hopkins)is a struggling magician who hits the big time when he creates an act with a dummy called Fats. The act makes Corky a star but soon Fats is taking over Corky's life and he loses his grip on reality. It's a chilling film and that dummy sure is freaky.Burgess Meredith is superb as Corky's agent Ben Greene. Meredith is especially brilliant in a scene where he walks in on Corky having an argument with Fats as if he were real. He asks Corky to go five minutes without speaking as Fats, it's a tense and painful scene to watch. You can see how concerned Greene is for Corky's mental health and also how freaked out he is by the things Fats says. Hopkins excels in that scene as it becomes more and more obvious that he most likely will not be able to last the five minutes.Ann- Margaret is very good as Peggy the love of Corky's life. Fans of the TV series MASH will be delighted to see David Ogden Stiers appear as a man from a TV network who Greene asks to watch Corky's act.Magic is a great horror film from Richard Attenborough. Hopkins makes Corky a very pitiable character who becomes trapped in the nightmare that is his own mind.

I went into this one with high hopes but came out the other side feeling this one had a bit of missed chance vibe about it. I mean, you've got Anthony Hopkins being a demented magician type with a dummy who may or may not be sentient. Then again, this is directed by Richard Attenborough, and although we lament that man's passing, director wise he's not exactly Mr Crash Bang Wallop. So Magic, like a lot of his films, is paced at Richard Athenaburgle's usual pace. They should have went for an all out Chucky style meltdown, bu#=-00099 (you know, I'm trying to type this in the dark - I have a budgie that's fifteen years old, right, so i've got to put her to sleep ad#=## and then try and type all this crap out in the dark 0 it doesn't work).Magic - isn't that great. I waited years to watch it and now I know why. Hopkins and Man Argaret are great but the whole story could have used a bit more jazz- I mean, this was the year of Carpenter's Halloween....

In this bizarre classic, the late Richard Attenborough brings to life William Goldman's 1976 re-imagining of the 1929 film The Great Gabbo- where a ventriloquist suffers from dual personalities because of the nature of his trade. Shifting it from a romance to a horror (though there is still an element of romance).Anthony Hopkins puts on an incredible performance as Corky- a socially awkward magician whose act just isn't up to par. That is, until he comes up with a schtick where he teams up with a ventriloquist dummy named Fats (whose voice is also done by Hopkins). Together, they put on a self-deprecating stand-up comedy routine, with some magic tied in, of course. .They are a hit...and on the brink of hitting the bigtime. Their agent has a lined the duo up with a pilot, and potential series to follow. But- with Fats as the dominant personality- Corky fears that he will blow his big chance- or have to face reality- and thus flees back to his childhood home, in search of his high school crush, Peggy.He finds her running her families old motel. Though it's failing, along with her marriage. While her husband is away, Corky takes up residence in one of the cabins, as he tries to woo her with Fats.But after a while, it becomes unclear whether Corky is suffering from some sort of split personality disorder, or whether he is actually reeling from the psychological effects related to the burden of covering up for the fact that Fats is, himself, animate.Not only is Fats animate, but he also seems to be able to manipulate Corky. It's clear that he prefers this route too. During the killing of Gangrene, Corky is the one acting at the behest of Fats. But when Corky successfully woos Peggy, he becomes liberated from his fear-of-failure complex, forcing Fats to lash out on his own- like when he attacks and kills Duke, Peggy's husband.You start to think that Corky and Fats are definitely two separate entities (with Fats having his own soul or what not), but the ending blurs this distinction, and makes you re-evaluate what you thought you knew.I don't know if Hopkins was really doing the ventriloquism, or whether he was just acting it...but his performance is downright incredible either way. If only for the diverse range emotions and psychological conditions covered. As was previously mentioned, this film owes a lot to the 1929 film The Great Gabbo, and seems to have gone on to influence other films like Child's Play. Ventriloquist dummies are so badass, and make for solid psychological horror icons! This is one truly disturbing film that seems to be a sort of under-appreciated classic. A must see.8.5 out 10.