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As lean, mean, Melburnian ex-army hit-man Ray Shoesmith goes about his daily business, debating with his victims such burning questions as Wayne Carey’s moral fibre, whether or not Clint Eastwood appeared in The Dirty Dozen, and Commodores vs Ferraris, he is trailed by his neighbour, Italian amateur filmmaker Max, who is making a fly-on-the-wall documentary to be released in the event of Ray’s early death. Max and his camera accompany Ray over several days as he warns off an erstwhile mate, kidnaps a drug dealer and even helps an ethically conflicted Max out with a little problem of his own. As Max and Ray carry out these ‘hits’, their unique working relationship unfolds, offering a candid perspective on the banal and darkly comic domain of underworld crime and creating a portrait of a man with a laid-back confidence and stomach-turning nonchalance. It’s clear that Ray fancies himself as a cinematic anti-hero. Oscillating between grimly funny narcissism and an underplayed hunch that it’s time to spill the beans, Ray is happy to engage the camera whenever and however it is possible. Confident in its studied portrayal of a conflicted man with ribald opinions, The Magician is intensely dramatic yet perfectly balanced with just the right tone of observational humour. Scott Ryan, who wrote, directed and stars in The Magician, seduces us with a fresh and distinct comic edge and a gift for the Aussie vernacular. Destined for cult status, The Magician is true guerrilla filmmaking: viscerally edgy, dramatically convincing, character-driven and peppered with gut-wrenchingly witty dialogue.
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