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      Make Believe

      2010 1h 29m Documentary List
      85% 20 Reviews Tomatometer 74% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score 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. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Inspiring good time. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Netflix, On Ebert's list and looked with kids and magic Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member 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). Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle 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. Rated: 2.5/4 Jul 21, 2011 Full Review Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal Terrifically likable without trying too terribly hard. May 27, 2011 Full Review Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times The various sleights of hand are impressive even if we're afforded little insight into their actual execution. Still, it's fun stuff. Rated: 3/5 May 27, 2011 Full Review Mike McGranaghan Aisle Seat 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. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 15, 2011 Full Review Rob Hunter Film School Rejects Rated: B- Jul 2, 2011 Full Review Jules Brenner Filmcritic.com They may not possess an equal amount of talent on a magician's stage, but their commitment to their goal is no illusion. Rated: 3.5/5 May 30, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

      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
      Ed Cunningham, Seth Gordon
      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