Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Steineded How sad is this?

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

BA_Harrison Struggling magician Corky Withers (Anthony Hopkins) develops a ventriloquist act involving a foulmouthed dummy called Fats (who looks like an even creepier version of Hopkins), after which his career finally starts to takes off. Unfortunately, Corky's fragile mind cannot handle the strain of two personalities, and begins to crack, turning him into a dangerous psychopath who believes that his dummy is alive.Scary dolls are a staple of the horror genre, but are rarely enough to carry a whole film. It's a good job, then, that Magic has plenty else going for it, not least a smart screenplay by best-selling writer William Goldman (adapted from his 1976 novel), excellent direction from future Oscar winner Richard Attenborough, and a great cast. Anthony Hopkins (another future Academy Award winner) is thoroughly convincing the mentally unstable conjurer Corky, the star mastering the art of throwing his voice and card tricks for the part, and he is given able support by the brilliant Burgess Meredith as concerned agent Ben, and from the beautiful Ann Margaret as love interest Peg.The film isn't so much scary as it is unsettling, and might disappoint some horror fans looking for jump scares or gory spectacle, but as a study in madness, it does very well indeed. 7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

GusF 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.

AaronCapenBanner Anthony Hopkins stars as a troubled and failed magician named Corky who hits upon the idea of using a dummy(named Fats) in his act, and becomes a big hit as a result. A veteran talent agent(played by Burgess Meredith) tries to push Corky to accept an offer of a network pilot special, but his insecurity resurfaces, and he flees to the rural Catskills and an old flame(played by Ann Margret) who little suspects just how unhinged(and murderous) Corky has become... Fine acting by Hopkins in a most credible portrayal of schizophrenic disorder, but film is surprisingly mundane and obvious. A classic episode of "The Twilight Zone" called 'The Dummy', with Cliff Robertson as a ventriloquist did a far better job of it in a precise 25 minutes, while this film rambles on for a further 80...

kclipper Although exaggerated and at times silly, this "Psycho" inspired thriller is an absolute classic in some schools of film-making, especially that of the Anthony Hopkins "Hannibal Lector" mythology before he portrayed the mad doctor himself and won the respect of millions of "serial thriller" movie buffs. The year is 1978, and Corky Withers (Hopkins) is a socially awkward illusionist/ventriloquist on the rise to stardom thanks to his alter personality in the form of "Fats" the dummy. Corky begins to lose his grip with reality as "Fats" takes on Hopkins more confident and aggressive side. New girlfriend, Peggy (Ann Margaret) and business agent (Burgess Meredith) all fall victim to Corky's crazy companion and inability to gain control of his inseparable other once he becomes homicidal.This is a solid 70's psychological thriller with the classic Hitchcock spin off from the famous "Anthony Perkins" duet with his mad mommy in the form of an emotionally challenged actor and his plastic puppet. The performances (especially Hopkins) are overzealous but excellent, and the action comes off so absurd, one cannot help but laugh. You can pretty much call it a pre-Hannibal dose of delirium to the highest degree and multi-talented director Richard Attenborough directs with flare. It doesn't disappoint.