Rough Magic (1997)

An introspective magician's assistant realizes her true powers while adrift on a fanciful journey through rural Mexico pursued by a gritty P.I. hired by her eccentric millionaire fiance. A curious blend of outlandish magical realism and the standard "gumshoe" nostalgia based on the novel "Miss Shumway Waves a Wand" by James Hadley Chase.DVD FeaturesDigitally Mastered Audio & VideoFull Screen PresentationAudio: English (Stereo)Bonus TrailersInteractive MenusScene SelectionsSystem Requirements:Running Time 104 MinsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396093058 Manufacturer No: 09305 Product Description

Original!

ROUGH MAGIC is quirky, fun and examines 'love' without resorting to mawkish cheese. No wonder so many imagination-starved critics dismissed it out of hand. I bet a remake with Hugh Grant and Catherine Zeta-Jones would be a mega-hit if made now.....(Heaven help us!)

I approached this film purely as a BRIDGET FONDA fan. Why this lady isn't a bigger star than she is I'll never know; She has more talent & looks than any number of so-called "names" populating the A-list right now, and the hostility I see directed at her in many an Amazon review (both for this film and others) leaves me scratching my head. If Ms. FONDA prefers lower key films and delibertaely avoids the typical blockbuster role then she goes up in my estimation even more.

ROUGH MAGIC is a fantasy - Let's get that straight out now. The first half of the film seems to be delving into an "on the lam" thriller (with a tinge of humour - This isn't an out & out "comedy"!) then veers off to become a film where nothing can be taken as literal.
When FONDA drinks the mystical South American exlir, her natural talents as a magician are enhanced. Finding out that Russell Crowe's ALEX ROSS has betrayed her she literally vomits up her heart and finds herself emotionless & without a soul. Of course it isn't meant to be taken literally, but it's definately a unique way of showing how crushed a person can be when they discover someone close has let them down.

So it's a difficult film to quantify, but that isn't a really a bad thing. JIM BROADBENT is always fun to watch and the Dog is a delight, while the scenery is suitable unearthly & mysterious.

Anything with BRIDGET FONDA in automatically becomes 'watchable' in my estimation, and ROUGH MAGIC is no exception. The fact that it has a positive love of life buried deep within it is mere icing on the cake in these bleak, souless times. The ending is so sweet too. May 10, 2006

quirky and romantic

This film could be an example of what critics call an "uneven" movie. It starts off rather serious, but then veers into an off-beat, quirky, funny--sometimes silly--yet always entertaining tale. It's a definite must-see for fans of Russell Crowe (at his most romantic in the church scene) and Bridget Fonda (sexy in those great '50s hats and dresses). Even the car is sexy. This may sound like a chick flick, but Paul Rodriguez provides enough amusement for the guys, too. December 5, 2005

A charming little movie

This film is, at base, a remake of "It Happened One Night": almost all the major plot elements are here: girl, engaged to a rich but unsympathetic man, whom her father (or "father") does not wish her to marry, runs away; a handsome and rather jaded reporter is sent to find her; they meet -- he doesn't at first tell her that he was looking for her-- they go on the lam, and on the road they bicker, but become attracted to each other; a misunderstanding occurs, the girl goes back and the wedding is set-- but before the ceremony can actually occur she has a change of heart. But that having been said, the fleshing out of the plot and characters is quite original. And while not in the same league as the great Frank Capra movie, this is a pleasant -- and sometimes quite refreshingly surprising-- little movie. A wonderful cast-- Russell Crowe is splendid, and Jim Broadbent and Kenneth Mars lend excellent support; Fonda is perhaps a bit too cool and also a bit too unsympathetic at times, but by and large does a respectable job. And the screwball element is tweaked by including magic -- both of the prestidigitory and occult variety. All in all, an interesting film that is worth a view! November 16, 2005

Entertaining Romp

"Rough Magic" is a wild little romp. I like the twist of how it begins with a magician and all of his tricks and ends in Mexico with what in the reality of the film would be bona fide magic such as levitation during sex, a man who gets turned into a sausage and Bridget Fonda laying a blue egg. Bernardo Bertolucci's wife Clare Peploe directed this piece and has a mastery of pacing. I found her 2001 film "Triumph of Love" also to move quickly. Bridget Fonda is certainly beautiful; and we've missed her on screen for the last several years. Her characters as in "Lake Placid" or "A Simple Plan" always engage; and this outing is no different. As the edgy, confident con-artist who falls in love, she displays a good variety of conflicting emotions. Sharon Stone brought Russell Crowe to Hollywood for "The Quick & the Dead" the same year this movie was made and called Crowe, "The sexiest guy working in movies today." He certainly expresses depth and a world-weary sense as Alex Ross, the somewhat burned out detective. Jim Broadbent went on to win an Oscar as best supporting actor for "Iris" in 2001 and then appeared in "Moulin Rouge." As Doc Ansell, he does a nice job trying to steal the sorceress' secrets and carries the plot along in its improbable twists & turns. D. W. Moffatt who was in "Twisted" with Ashley Judd and "Traffic," plays the rich cad Cliff Wyatt that regards Myra Shumway as a trophy and pursues her to Mexico. Based on the story "Miss Shumway Waves A Wand" by James Hadley Chase, this film is an entertaining romp filled with magic, romance and improbability. Enjoy! March 1, 2005

Run Away If You Love Good Movies

I got Rough Magic through the Inter-Library Loan System. I can only grovel in relief I didn't pay money for it. This movie tells the story of Myra Shumway, played by Bridget Fonda, a magician's assistant who, through a series of events too boring to detail here, flees to Mexico with a roll of film containing a photo of a senatorial hopeful (her fiance) killing a man. (And don't ALL ultra-rich prospective senators choose shirttail poor, tough talking, thieving magician's assistants to marry?) Russell Crowe is Alex Ross (no relation to the famous comic book artist of the same name), a newspaper stringer detailed to find her.

That bare description of plot sounds like it could actually make a decent romantic screwball comedy. Any idea can be well or poorly done, right? Unfortunately, Rough Magic goes straight for "poorly," not even stopping at "well." The script is trite, the pacing slow, the direction amateurish. Myra's surrogate father figure, her boss at the beginning of the movie, looks and acts like an overdone, overage, overweight Mandrake the Magician. Myra's soon to be ex-boyfriend, the wannabe senator, is a raving loonie who plans to have their marriage in a museum dedicated to his family's uranium business. No, I'm not kidding. When asked, "Why not a church?" he enthuses, "This is a church! A church of atomic science!"

Myra herself is impossible to like, a compulsive thief with a smart mouth (as smart as this script can make it, anyway) who constantly lies to everyone around her - even when there's no logical reason to lie. Bridget Fonda once again proves her inability to turn in a decent job of acting. I hate to say that, it sounds meanspirited. I'm sure she's a very nice person in real life, but the God's honest truth is she's not much of an actress. Even Russell Crowe, my favorite actor, with a vein of talent deep and wide running through his soul, is unimpressive as Ross. His character is vague, unaffecting, and Russell endows him with a mushy, obviously fake New York accent. Or maybe it's Chicago. Hell, Boston. It's so inconstantly applied it's hard to tell. Almost as if, realizing he was involved in a piece of forgettable, poorly produced trash, Russell decided not even to try.

There's zero romantic chemistry between the two main characters. Fonda and Crowe move - lethargically - through the motions of flirting and finding each other attractive. And it's not believable. Obviously the only reason this is happening, these two people are falling in love, is that the script requires it.

After 30 minutes or so, I just couldn't hack it anymore and stopped the tape. The person who had Rough Magic before me also stopped it less - MUCH less - than halfway through. I know this because someone was not kind, they did not rewind. I did, of course - thus readying this piece of dreck for the next unsuspecting victim. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. December 25, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...