An engrossing, touching documentary about teenage magicians crossing paths at a Las Vegas competition, Make Believe focuses on six young people from different corners of the U.S. and around the world, providing insight into why kids would give up so much of their childhoods to practice the art of illusion for hours every day. For a couple of boys living on the mean streets of Cape Town, South Africa, magic is their ticket (they hope) to a better life. For an ebullient 19-year-old in Chicago, it's a means of expressing who he is before adult responsibilities bring necessary compromise. For a Japanese youngster with no mentor in the trade (unlike the others), it's a way of coping with a lonely existence in a remote village. Shooting very effectively on location, director J. Clay Tweel follows his subjects' sundry paths through life, while also looking at the training most receive at schools of magic or under the guidance of professionals, and introducing the families that support their dreams. The culminating scenes are set at the annual World Magic Seminar contest, where one of the contenders will emerge as the best of the best. DVD extras include deleted scenes and a primer on how to perform some classic tricks. Highly recommended. Aud: P. (T. Keogh)
Make Believe
(2011) 91 min. DVD: $20. Make Believe (avail. from www.makebelievefilm.com). Closed captioned. Volume 26, Issue 6
Make Believe
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