I can honestly say that I love magic. No, not the hoodoo spooky stuff where people do incantations but the entertaining style of magic with card tricks and floating women. Doug Henning and David Copperfield style magic. And one of the most legendary performers of magic has been the Amazing Randi. Not only has he performed with amazing skill he's also taken the task of exposing film flam man and con artists who would prey on the innocent and gullible. This makes him a hero in my book.The title of this film involves a play on words of sort. We're told that magicians are actually liars to the nth degree but that unlike those who prey on people they are up front about it. They tell the audience in advance I'm going to lie to you and make you believe I have powers that don't exist when in fact I'm playing a trick on you. But there is something else to James Randi that many never knew about that made him an honest liar of a different sort. It wasn't something he quite hid but it wasn't something he talked about either. It was the fact that he was gay.But the movie doesn't focus solely on that. Instead it covers the life of this amazing magician from early no through his rise as a performer of note, appearing numerous times on programs like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He appeared on stages around the world. And at the height of his fame he stepped back and began a crusade to stop people from abusing tricks and skulduggery to harm folks into believing they could actually perform miracles they could not.The biggest scam he uncovered (and one I'd heard of prior to seeing this film) was a television minister who claimed her could heal the sick. This man would encourage people to toss away their prescribed medicines claiming they no longer needed them once he healed them. It turns out he was using an earpiece and the information he had on members of the audience was being fed to him by his wife in the back, information taken from cards people in the audience had filled out when they arrived. Randi exposed him for what he was and how he did what he was doing. Sadly for those who believe in the healing powers of faith it is charlatans like this that besmirch the name of those they claim to represent. Randi knew this and set out to shine a light on them.The movie not only talks about his life as a performer and debunker of false mystics, it talks about his life long relationship with his partner Jose Alves. This becomes another form of an open lie taking place as well. Having read about it before I wasn't stunned when it becomes known in the film just what that hidden piece of information is but I won't reveal it here for those unaware.What is nice about the topic of Randi's being gay in this film is that it doesn't turn it into a political stance. Their affection for one another is not something that they feel needs a huge display on film. You know by the end of the film just how much these two mean to one another and that's fine. Whether you agree or disagree with people who are gay doesn't make a difference in this film. It never becomes an issue. It is accepted and discussed and that's all there is to it.The work that Randi did in stopping charlatans who preyed on the weak was a noble effort. When he's gone I wonder who will be left to take up his cause. I'm hoping someone will do so, someone who has as much knowledge on the topic as he does. As for magicians there are always those who will amaze us with their abilities. Watching this film you witness just how great a magician he truly was/is and appreciate him for how amazing a performer he has been.You will also see that he has and always was an honest liar. He told us up front he planned on deceiving us. He did just that in more ways than one. And yet it never affected how we viewed him or how much we enjoyed what he was able to do. After watching this an appreciation for all he provided will be the end result.

This is a story on the tension between reality and illusion.Randi early in life: " I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery."Randi, the great illusionist and escape artist, becomes a fighter for truth later in life. Living a mission to uncover illusionists who are saying they are in contact with the gods like, Uri Geller and Popov, who were claiming psychic powers.Randi proves they are just illusionists, debunking their self-claimed divine powers. Randi believes this is extremely important as people place far to much trust in these fraudulent con-men.I find it interesting to see the human will to believe, people ignoring the proof offered by Randi, wanting to believe in divine powers on the earth thereby feeding the mouth and pleasures of the con men in the world.I wonder is the influence of con men a bad thing?A person in the documentary said it quite well, the energy in the room with Popov was amazing. With his self claimed godly connection he created a belief, a huge energy filling the room, giving people faith, a rush. An energy people lack in normal life. The conclusion is that Randi's skeptic words are an inconvenient truth. Because what is an earth without divine powers? This energy in room with Popov is real. If Randi is right, are we just Muppet's running around being born, feeding ourselves and dying?Randi is a front-man of the skeptics, believing, that we will have a better world without this "god on earth" illusion.With this believe and his well placed actions against the frauds he became a god in itself for the skeptics.It is extremely beautiful to see Randi was living a large part of his life with a huge lie and illusions as well. Thereby proving his no god as well. No god for the skeptics. Just a normal man; an honest man, a liar, all in one. There is divinity in that.

I've always loved magic. I study films and music to the point that while I still appreciate art at its best, the secrets have been spilled. I want to keep the secrets of magic under wraps so the best showmen can still captivate me. I'd actually never heard of James Randi, a self- proclaimed substitute for Houdini after his death, or maybe I had but forgotten him, so it was a delight to find out he'd been involved in significant events in magic that I looked into - such as Uri Geller's live exposé. Even in his 80s he's a charismatic entertainer who's fun to watch. He knows the value of the secrets of magic, and hates when it's abused to manipulate people for profit, rather than entertain them for profit. It's very satisfying to watch Randi's successes as frauds are exposed and the filmmakers have a wealth of footage to illustrate their points. The chapters may seem to end prematurely, but it culminates in its crisis point in the third act in a way that keeps a balanced argument as to whether what Randi is doing is justice or invasive of people's freedom and hope. But what's most engaging about the doc is Randi's own life and the hidden side of him of his partner. An Honest Liar is a very well put together doc about an important figure in magic everyone should know about.8/10

Without detailing into spoilers,This movie provided enough interesting lessons spanning much wider than just a movie. I think it's pretty unique in its underlying message, at least I don't know of any other movies with these lines underneath. I may even fall in a separate category. For scientists this movie will show you that there are other variables besides "controlled conditions" and "a bunch of references" which you should be taken into account, when performing tests with humans: humans may deliberately fraud your research. As far as I remember that was never a topic or even a consideration during classes on how to conduct controlled experiments. It also taught me that, no matter how smart you are, people will always be able to fool you. So you do need strict conditions and help of trained professionals when performing tests or experiments in this area.The movie also taught me that even if you put the plain proof that people are frauds in front of people, it is no use. Apparently people disregard the truth even with evidence and for reasons I can't yet comprehend, donate gazillion of dollars to frauds even with recorded proofs of fraudulent behavior. The movie made me aware that knowing the truth is one thing but assuming other people are interested in the truth is another thing.Apart from these and other pretty unique things the movie lets you think of ... it gives an insight in the career of Randi. I was not completely aware of his complete career, which was an eye opener.I also did not know how broad his operations stretched, the determination during the 2 years of paranormal research was absolutely stunning.If I would have to categorize the movie in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection I would create a separate drawer "Truth".