An Honest Liar

B+

Directed by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom

Review by Jon Kissel

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The documentary An Honest Liar posits that its subject, James Randi, has failed.  Not at being a legendary escape artist and magician who is favorably compared to Houdini by peers, but at translating the performative philosophy of his craft into the public square.  He describes magicians as being the most honest people in the world, because they are telling the truth even when they’re trying to trick their audience.  Their feats are elaborate hoaxes and misdirections, and they never claim otherwise.  Conversely, the most dishonest people are those that use the exact same tools as the magician and present themselves as being actually magical.  Despite his elaborate public humiliations of these charlatans, they keep popping back up with a new scheme or excuse, impervious to the public’s weak critical thinking skills.  Directors Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s far-ranging film chronicles that Sisyphean fight, plus Randi’s professional and personal life as it goes through too-good-to-be-true twists and turns befitting a man who’s always kept people guessing.

As a devotee of Randi and the skeptical movement that he helped sire, much of An Honest Liar comes from a familiar place.  I’ve heard him hold court about his encounters with liar Uri Geller and conman Peter Popoff on podcasts, and these primal stories of nefarious actors getting their comeuppance are strong enough to entertain on every telling.  The parts of An Honest Liar that are the newest are those about Randi himself.  His life seems crafted by a writer being too cute with the various highlights.  The professional obfuscator who realized he was gay at a young age, only to stay in the closet until his 80’s.  The master of deception who uses his powers to help people become less susceptible to exactly that.  Randi’s interest in debunking comes both from his idolization of Houdini, and in recognizing the awe that people invest in the mentalist when they maneuver their mark into a correct prediction.  That power over people, based on the ecstasy that they fall under at one of Popoff’s faith healing sessions, is what cults are made of, to the point that the feature adaptation of Randi’s life would surely contain his Marvel-esque mirror image villain.  The man’s experiences come ready-made for hacky drama, too contrived to be believed if it weren’t all true.

Even if the viewer is familiar with Randi and his noble work, An Honest Liar still contains surprises.  Randi has long perpetrated hoaxes on paranormal investigators, making them look more foolish than their mission statement already does.  All this experience doesn’t prevent him from being susceptible to hoaxes, which goes to show how difficult critical thinking is even for a person steeped in it.  If Randi can’t keep his skeptical muscles honed, what hope is there for the average Joe, flipping through channels and landing on the wealthy Geller now selling magical jewelry or Popoff hawking relics from a Chernobyl church?  Weinstein and Measom are blessed in their choice to make their documentary on a subject so rich in complexity and conflict, even if that subject might lay his head to pillow at night, wondering if he’s just pushing back the tide.  B+