Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Cohen Media Group | Release Date: December 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 13, 2015
The dazzling thing in Magician is how Workman breezily covers the various periods in Welles’ career, periods worthy of entire books, from his childhood as “The Boy Wonder,” to his post-“Kane” “Gypsy” years, when Hollywood was sure it had plenty of reasons not to hire him as a director, on up to today, as Richard “Boyhood” Linklater dubs him “the patron saint of indie filmmakers.” Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubKeith UhlichDec 9, 2014
It’s enough for Workman to simply assemble a patchwork of Welles in his myriad incarnations (as the hearty Falstaff in Chimes At Midnight; as an arched-eyebrow spokesman for Paul Masson wine; as The Third Man’s cynical Harry Lime; as a sharp, vital youth and a sharp, frail elder) and allow the many faces to confirm, contradict, and, ultimately, speak for themselves. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJan 3, 2015
Like Welles' butchered cut of "The Magnificent Ambersons," it's fascinating but leaves you hungry for more. Read full review
80
EmpireIan NathanJul 2, 2015
If director Chuck Workman maps a familiar rise and fall of rule-breaking brilliance it is vindicated by the great raconteur and in-depth praise from an impressive roster. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 10, 2014
Most tales come from the inimitable mouth of the man himself, who could make ordering dinner sound like Shakespeare. He had a life to match. Workman covers all of his subject’s years, even if very few of them truly belonged to Welles. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyApr 2, 2015
There are unexpected things in “Magician,” such as Puck’s presence. Welles’s first screen test, from 1937, and an appearance on “I Love Lucy” are others. But even the expected things, such as the numerous Welles clips, are consistently unexpected. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 13, 2015
Magician is worth seeing as a kind of curated tour through the movies and through Welles’ interviews. However, if you have more time and want to get into Welles on your own, an afternoon watching YouTube videos followed by a few evenings of watching his best movies might be even better. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 12, 2014
Whatever its shortcomings, “Magician” accomplishes quite a bit as a corrective, and it also gives one an hour and a half in the company of Orson Welles. That in and of itself is worth at least a three-star rating. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeDec 10, 2014
If this documentary is swift and witty, that’s in part because it relies heavily on clips of Orson Welles talking. And oh, how Welles could talk, that beautiful voice wrapping itself around tall tales and wine commercials with equal grace. Read full review
70
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekDec 9, 2014
Sturdy and rudimentary, Magician may be Welles 101, but it's dotted liberally with TV and radio clips of the famously loquacious auteur talking, talking, and doing more talking — and how could anybody with ears and a brain resist that buttery voice, spinning out clause-laden sentences that take more twists and turns than the streets of Venice but always end, somehow, in a place that's ravishingly articulate? Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 4, 2015
The movie marches so quickly past the many milestones of Welles’s career and life that it doesn’t have to time to linger — lovingly or otherwise — on any of them. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 10, 2014
Workman’s study, complete with a fawning sit-down with Steven Spielberg, feels slightly awestruck: The films certainly deserve it, but you’ll want more of Welles’s Illinois schoolmate, rolling her eyes when the subject is described as “humble.” Read full review
60
The DissolveKeith PhippsDec 9, 2014
If nothing else, the sweep of Workman’s cradle-to-grave approach helps place Kane in a broader context, making it one chapter in a long life and a drama-packed career. The only trouble with the film is that Welles’ story has been told many times over, and Workman struggles to find anything new to say. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleDec 9, 2014
Magician may not be its own rich experience, but like Workman's many breathlessly compiled odes to the history of movies, it'll certainly spur a meaty living room film festival. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChuck BowenDec 6, 2014
Director Chuck Workman's simply compiles Welles's greatest moments, offering little in the way of an authorial point of view. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisDec 9, 2014
Like one of those machines that can inhale a car and spit out a tidy cube of squashed components, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles is a near-indigestible lump of clips and quips and snipped opinions. Read full review
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