Movie Review: An Honest Liar

By Noreen Sobczyk

An Honest Liar is a documentary about James “The Amazing” Randi (self-described liar, cheat, and charlatan) directed by Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein. I was surprised by how many people to whom I mentioned this film had not heard of “The Amazing Randi.” Perhaps he’s one of those people locked away somewhere in the brain along with Tang™ and some random fact that you can’t quite access but know you know while playing Trivial Pursuit™. After all, helping Alice Cooper with a little stage decapitation and appearing on Happy Days in cahoots with The Fonz are among his lesser-known activities.

“The Amazing” Randi left home at 17 to join the gypsies, tramps, and thieves world of the traveling carnival. He soon became known as a famous magician and escape artist who broke a few records held by perhaps the most famous magician of all time, Harry Houdini. And like Houdini, Randi spent the latter part of his career debunking fakes and swindlers, otherwise known as “psychics” (in the context of Randi’s speech the quotes are inherently implied), “faith healers,” and others of the same ilk. This is one area where the film falters: it never explains that Randi holds an open invitation, one million dollar challenge to all psychics to prove their powers. None of the big names have ever accepted. Nor does it mention his involvement with the annual Halloween tradition of honoring Houdini with an elaborate séance in order to prove or disprove Houdini’s attendance. So far Houdini has not appeared.

The film does explore Randi’s “mythbusting” activities against famous spoonbender Uri Geller and “faith healer” Peter Popoff, both of whom he exposed as alleged fakes on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Randi seems hell bent on ending what he refers to as the deception of the public and “fleecing by claptrap”; he feels that it not only separates money from wallets, it also stands in the way of truth to a degree that might be physically damaging. Several debunking episodes are captured on film or audio and shared in this fascinating tale of a man who repeatedly uses deception to uncover deception in what seems an altruistic campaign for a worldview based upon science and truth. And through a series of twists and turns the documentary conveys that people believe what they need to believe despite what evidence they are provided by scientists or skeptics.

The film conveys that even scientists have been “taken in” by alleged psychic shenanigans that Randi and cohorts have used cunning and knowledge to expose. With eyebrows that appear like butterflies taking flight from his face, Randi states that “no matter how smart or well educated a person may be, they can be deceived.” And in the end the audience tastes a bit of that bitter pill in learning about the personal life of “The Amazing” Randi himself.

For future screenings of An Honest Liar and to help the filmmakers get out of the debt they incurred making it, please visit the film’s website. For information about The Amazing Randi’s other projects visit: www.randi.org