Posted: 09/15/2011

Make Believe

(2010)

by Joe Sanders

Now available on DVD from Firefly Entertainment

Make Believe is a documentary about a group of young aspiring magicians competing against each other in a big international teen magician competition in Las Vegas. The film follows 6 of the competitors. There’s Krystyn (a pretty blonde, who has the look and devotion of a future star), Derek (an introverted kid, who can only seem to interact with others through magic), Hiroki (who lives in a remote village in Japan where he learned his first magic tricks from watching a recording of a television show over and over again), William (a performer at heart with a musical background and a knack for building his own illusions), and Siphiwe and Nkumbozo (two brothers from South Africa with a charismatic and humorous magic act with a soccer theme).

Much in the tradition of other documentaries that center around a competition, it’s hard to root for any one magician over the others. They all have a unique back story and are all obviously talented. This hooks the audience early and makes it a genuine necessity to find out who will win the competition. Possibly Siphiwe and Nkumbozo will be a viewer favorite as they have the noble intention of winning the competition in order to move their mother out of their very dangerous neighborhood in South Africa. They say that it’s not uncommon for her to get robbed (often on a daily basis) at gun- or knife-point. However, it’s clear from early on in the film that all of these kids have an equal shot at being champion.

It does take quite a while to get to each of the competitors’ actual acts. We see a variety of little illusions and card manipulations throughout the movie, but make it nearly an hour without seeing a fully realized magic trick from one of the competitors. This isn’t necessarily a criticism of the film, but might put some people off. It is interesting to really get to know each of these kids, to see where they come from and how they got into magic. It’s fascinating, and gives the overall film a sweetness that you can’t fake. The one magician who doesn’t get enough screen time is Krystyn, whose storyline at the competition would be better served by more footage of how devoted she is to her craft and how she goes about rehearsing her act. None of the other characters suffer from this shortcoming.

The DVD itself has some terrific special features. Some standard stuff, like a Q&A from one of the film festivals the film was in, but there’s also a series of featurettes that show viewers how to do a variety of different magic tricks. On top of all that, another highlight of the special features is a performance by young magician Kyle Eschen, who appears in the film as a representative of the magic castle in Los Angeles and comments on the different competitors’ acts. His act is a delightful blend of a super-dry stand-up comedy routine with some fairly common (yet entertaining) magic tricks. Overall, it’s very engaging and a nice addition to the film itself.

Joe Sanders is a playwright and college instructor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has a Master’s degree in playwriting and a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Western Michigan University, where he currently teaches Thought and Writing.

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