Documentary Style
NarrativeAn Honest Liar
The magician who spent his life exposing psychics, faith healers, and con artists. A timely lesson in critical thinking and skepticism in an era of rampant misinformation.
Year
2014
Type
film
Runtime
90 min
Language
English
Director
Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Genres
Summary
James "The Amazing" Randi spent decades as one of America's most celebrated magicians. Then he discovered psychics and faith healers were using his tricks to swindle the vulnerable - and declared war on them.
Randi exposed Uri Geller's spoon-bending on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and revealed faith healer Peter Popoff receiving audience information through a hidden earpiece, and planted two fake psychics inside a $500,000 scientific study. His mission: teaching the world to think skeptically rather than credulously. But when a shocking revelation about his partner of 25 years surfaces, the world's greatest fraud detector faces an unsettling question.
A fascinating exploration of belief, critical thinking, and the thin line between honest deception and dishonest fraud.