“The Amazing Johnathan Documentary” (2019) / Z-View

The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019)

Director: Ben Berman

Screenplay: Ben Berman

Stars: John Edward Szeles (aka The Amazing Jonathan), Eric André, Criss Angel, Penn Jillette, Max Maven, Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic.

Tagline: Magic. Meth. Mayhem.

The Plot…

The Amazing Jonathan was a magician/comedian who regularly appeared on television, in Vegas and around the country.  But that was decades ago.  After being diagnosed with a fatal heart condition, Jonathan gets the itch to perform again.  Ben Berman agrees to create a documentary of Jonathan’s final tour.

Berman begins filming.  The Amazing Jonathan has earned enough to live in a mansion and never work again.  The stress of  preparing for the tour, let alone the actual performing could kill him.  So why not live out his final days in the comfort from the wealth he’s earned?  Then Berman learns that Jonathan still smokes meth regularly.

Death wish, maybe?

As the documentary continues, Berman discovers that The Amazing Jonathan has another documentary crew filming… and another… ultimately there are four crews with each thinking that they have the rights to The Amazing Jonathan’s story.

The film starts out interesting enough.  I remember seeing The Amazing Jonathan perform many times on television.  His act was entertaining.  As the documentary continued, I began to lose interest.  Jonathan comes off in a bad light.  It’s not just smoking the meth.  What kind of person enters deals with multiple crews for the same thing.  And the documentary director decides to smoke meth with Jonathan to prove… what?

The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019) rates 2 of 5 stars.