An Honest Liar

James “The Amazing” Randi is a master magician and escape artist who has been compared to his idol Harry Houdini—a not unwarranted claim based on the archival footage of his performances and TV appearances (with Johnny Carson, among others) seen in this engaging documentary by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom. Randi also shares with the legendary prestidigitator a determination to unmask frauds who try to fleece gullible people with their supposed mystical powers. An Honest Liar covers an elaborate hoax that Randi contrived with a young man named José Alvarez in order to expose so-called channelers in Australia, and another involving two students under his tutelage who fooled researchers in parapsychology at Stanford. Also featured are Randi's unveiling of the fraud perpetrated by Peter Popoff, a televangelist who claimed to be a faith-healer, and his lengthy feud with Uri Geller, whose exhibitions of telekinetic abilities Randi dismissed as sheer hooey (Geller himself is interviewed here, as are fans Penn Jillette and Bill Nye). During the last reel, however, the documentary turns to a case of deception involving Randi and Alvarez (his partner for many years) that will take both men to court, leading to a revelatory twist. A fine and ultimately touching portrait of a man who's devoted his life to fooling people through trickery and exposing those who claim to be the real article, this is recommended. [Note: this is also available from Tugg (http://licenses.tugg.com) with public performance rights for $200 for public libraries and $495 for colleges and universities.] (F. Swietek)