Review of Magic (1978) by Jonathan G — 02 Feb 2008

Magic is a strange creature, not defined by any one genre, not all good and not all that bad either. It's strangely absorbing as we watch Anthony Hopkins' character Corky slowly but surely fall apart, knowing full well by the end of the first act that he's clearly cracked long ago. The slow burn is one of the major selling points of the film, but the build up of tension comes only in sporadic bursts, pausing continually to be either comic or romantic. These interlacing atmospheres serve only to cut each other up, where suddenly a perfectly good romantic drama is interrupted by a psychological thriller and vice versa.

Hopkins is obviously working his butt off for this role, throwing himself all over the place, screaming and generally acting insane. Some of it is inevitably wonderful, but due to the subtle nature of some of the other parts of his performance, these scene stealers seem more like scenery chewing. It's obvious that Hopkins was a great actor early on, but his performance here doesn't do him full justice. For another thing, his 'dummy' voice is at times irritating and the accent unconvincing.

Richard Attenborough's CV is certainly more impressive than this, but his skills as a director are still evident here, as are William Goldman's skills as a writer better represented elsewhere. A fascinating, absorbing but disjointed film.