The film is about the life of Corky (Anthony Hopkins), the failed magician. This magician is at the mercy of a revealing doll called Fats as he faces yet another turn by looking for a renewed romance with his high school sweetheart.
Magic is neither eerie nor effective. It is, however, very heavy of hand.
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
November 20, 2003
Good cast can't keep this thriller afloat.
Filmcritic.com
May 09, 2006
Odd combo, but it's creepy and generally works.
Time Out
June 24, 2006
A hammed-up version of the old chestnut about the ventriloquist who is 'taken over' by his dummy, clumsily adapted by William Goldman from his own novel.
Still creepy story of Hopkins and his psychotic dummy.
Film Threat
June 21, 2006
Because of Hopkins, because of Ann-Margret (who hardly looks like that Ann-Margret, adeptly proving herself as an occasional dramatic actress), and because of Burgess Meredith as well as Fats the dummy, "Magic" is one of the top-notch films of the 1970s.
A very well-crafted suspense-thriller that unfolds with one dramatically tense scene after another. Hopkins is superb.
Variety
March 26, 2009
In adapting his own best-seller, William Goldman has opted for an atmospheric thriller, a mood director Richard Attenborough fleshes out to its fullest.
