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An Honest Liar

Play trailer Poster for An Honest Liar 2014 1h 32m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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98% Tomatometer 40 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
World-renowned magician and escape artist James "the Amazing" Randi dedicates his life to exposing fake psychics and others who claim paranormal powers.
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An Honest Liar

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Critics Consensus

A thoughtful and surprisingly layered documentary enlivened by its subject, An Honest Liar serves as a well-deserved tribute to a fascinating life.

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Critics Reviews

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David Edelstein New York Magazine/Vulture 11/03/2020
Whatever his foibles, An Honest Liar depicts a great American original... Go to Full Review
Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle 04/16/2015
3.5/5
Mankind may be awash in more con men and faith-based swindlers than ever, but precious few are bold enough to step forward into the light of reason, even for a million bucks. Bravo, Mr. Randi. Go to Full Review
Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic 04/09/2015
4/5
"An Honest Liar" is a fascinating look at what the truth means, and how it means different things to different people. It's also a reminder that no one has a monopoly on it. Not even the Amazing Randi. Go to Full Review
Michael J. Casey Michael J. Cinema 10/10/2021
3.5/5
The trick of magic is to turn the act into a show, and 'An Honest Liar' is an enjoyable show. Go to Full Review
C.J. Prince Way Too Indie 06/21/2019
Weinstein and Measom's documentary is fascinating and enjoyable for the most part, but it's not without its flaws. Go to Full Review
Stephen Saito Moveable Fest 11/15/2018
However, nothing compares to the momentum of a great story, and though "An Honest Liar" may occasionally get a little too crafty for its own good, when it works, it's pure magic. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cheryl C 09/07/2024 Very interesting and informative. The human element makes the film more compelling. See more William L 05/26/2022 Faith healers and divine spiritualists are just the worst, y'know? A neat documentary on fraud and fraudsters, but more interesting as a discussion about the psychology behind people's innate desire to be fooled, and the line between deception and deceit when the underlying intention is under consideration. Presenting fact-based explanations for supposedly bizarre phenomena and getting some form of rebuke is pretty classic territory that political thrillers have explored ad nauseum. Going against this solid (if familiar) premise is Randi's own, surprisingly complex personality - a charismatic individual who gets a somewhat perverse pleasure from countering the prevailing opinion, from being berated because he feels (not without some justification) that he is the smartest man in the room, but silently grappling with the ambiguous moral cutoff between lies for a larger lesson and the incidental damage caused in telling those lies. While the aspects regarding Randi's sexuality and relationship with his partner seem rather out of place early in the runtime, they do ultimately introduce a pretty interesting aspect to Randi's character as the relatively unhurt victim of a deception, but still one that possibly allowed himself to be fooled because of his own self-interest in a loved one. (3.5/5) See more william d @acsdoug 07/23/2021 The parts where Randi is debunking psychic phenomena was very interesting, but much of the film is about Jose Alvarez and I just didn't care about that guy's story. See more 11/05/2020 Fascinating from beginning to end. See more 01/08/2017 A documentary about Amazing Randi and how he publicly exposed fake psychics and healers(Peter Popoff being one of them) a great way to open your eyes and see how most religious televangelists are full of crap,and how these con men are taking advantage of innocent and naive people. See more 09/08/2016 No matter how educated you are...you can always be deceived . It's unfortunate and I suppose makes for entertaining stories. See more Read all reviews
An Honest Liar

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis World-renowned magician and escape artist James "the Amazing" Randi dedicates his life to exposing fake psychics and others who claim paranormal powers.
Director
Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Producer
Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Screenwriter
Tyler Measom, Greg O'Toole, Justin Weinstein
Production Co
BBC Storyville, Part2 Pictures, Pure Mutt Productions, Left Turn Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$177.8K
Runtime
1h 32m
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