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Make Believe

Play trailer Poster for Make Believe 2010 1h 29m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 74% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Six young magicians from the U.S., South Africa and Japan compete at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas for the title of Teen World Champion.

Critics Reviews

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Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle 07/21/2011
2.5/4
I would have liked to see more tricks and fewer parental interviews, but in any case, this is a reasonably appealing documentary for anyone with a special interest in the subject. Go to Full Review
Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal 05/27/2011
Terrifically likable without trying too terribly hard. Go to Full Review
Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times 05/27/2011
3/5
The various sleights of hand are impressive even if we're afforded little insight into their actual execution. Still, it's fun stuff. Go to Full Review
Mike McGranaghan Aisle Seat 09/15/2011
3.5/4
Make Believe has it all: likable "characters" we want to follow, a subject that both astounds and amazes, and a mounting sense of suspense as the competition reaches its conclusion. Go to Full Review
Rob Hunter Film School Rejects 07/02/2011
B-
Jules Brenner Filmcritic.com 05/30/2011
3.5/5
They may not possess an equal amount of talent on a magician's stage, but their commitment to their goal is no illusion. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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01/07/2017 Inspiring good time. See more 12/18/2013 I found out about this documentary from seeing Krystyn Lambert in Criss Angel's series and hearing she was in this. Basically follows a few aspiring teen magicians on the road to the World Magic Seminar. It is an interesting documentary of their struggle to fit in and how they hone their craft. Not so much how they do anything, but more how they make new tricks. Goes the everything before and after. Does a pretty solid job of telling a story. Pretty standard documentary fare with the occasional neat shot of a trick or rare insight into a trick. Worth a watch for magic fans or people who enjoy an uplifting documentary. See more 07/31/2013 Fellow magic aficionados, you've got to check this out. These kids are amazingly talented but it's a little sad to see how lonely they are. Maybe this is mean-spirited but Krystyn Lambert reminded me of Tracy Flick and I kept waiting for her to get her comeuppance. See more 03/30/2013 Nice fun documentary on the greatest teen magicians in the world, converging on Las Vegas to compete in the Lance Burton Championship. It follows a half dozen young competitors and focuses on what drives them to be great. It's intriguing watching them hone their routines leading up to the big day. As a nice bonus the DVD has a tutorial showing how to perform several magic tricks, which I have used to impress my children. See more 12/27/2012 Netflix, On Ebert's list and looked with kids and magic See more 11/21/2012 There are many of competition style documentries that I love. "Pulling John" is about arm wrestling, "King of Kong" is about competitive classic video game playing, "word wars" is about competitive scrable, "Air Guitar Nation" is about competitive air guitar, "planet b-boy" is about break dancing, I would recommend any of these movies. They have built in villians and always an under dog to root for. They are way more dramatic than a scripted movies since you really don't know who will win. This one is about the world of teen magic and a competion that has lead to famous vegas magicians. It falls towards the bottom of the list above but still worth watching (most are on netflix streaming). See more Read all reviews
Make Believe

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Six young magicians from the U.S., South Africa and Japan compete at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas for the title of Teen World Champion.
Director
J. Clay Tweel
Producer
Steven Klein
Screenwriter
Cleven S. Loham
Production Co
Firefly Theater & Films, Level 22
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 20, 2016
Runtime
1h 29m