Roland “Rollie” Tyler (Bryan Browne) is a special effects artist who works on films, especially the effects for horror movies. His girlfriend, Ellen (Diane Venora), is an actress. While working on set, Rollie is approached by a man who says his name is Joe Lightner (Cliff De Young) and that he is a producer looking to hire Rollie. They make an appointment for the next day to discuss the potential job.
The next day Lightner tells Rollie that his real name is Lipton and that he works for the Department of Justice. The DOJ has a major crime boss, Nicholas DeFranco (Jerry Orbach), who is turning state’s evidence and has a price on his head. DeFranco is going to be placed into the witness protection program after he testifies in court. They need Rollie to rig it so that they can pretend to kill DeFranco in a crowded restaurant thereby making his enemies think he is already dead. They are willing to pay him $30,000 to make the illusion happen. After some consideration, Rollie decides to take the job.
Lipton’s boss, Colonel Mason (Mason Adams), convinces Rollie to play the assassin in order to maintain control of the stunt. The stunt goes off perfectly, however, after the job, Lipton tries to kill Rollie, thereby eliminating all loose ends. Another attempt is made to kill Rollie, but Ellen is murdered instead. The hitman, hired to kill Rollie, tries to finish the job but ends up dead himself. Rollie then sees in the paper that DeFranco was actually killed and that the bullets in the gun were supposedly real. Rollie understands that he was set up and is now collateral damage.
Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) is the NYPD homicide detective assigned to investigate the murders of Ellen and the hitman. McCarthy was responsible for the capture of DeFranco previously. As he investigates, he comes to believe that the DeFranco case has a connection to the murders of Ellen and the hitman that occurred at Rollie’s apartment. Leo’s and Rollie’s lives intersect when it is learned that DeFranco may not be as dead as people thought. Separately, Rollie and McCarthy delve deeper into the con and discover a plan to steal millions of dollars from the mob.
“F/X” AKA “F/X: Murder by Illusion” was released in 1986 and was directed by Robert Mandel. It is an American crime thriller. The film spawned a sequel, “F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion” 1991, and a television series “F/X: The Series” that ran from 1996 to 1998.
There were a lot of great action movies that came out in the 80’s. This is one of the better but lesser-known films from that era. One of the nice things about this film is that the special effects are true effects and not CGI, plus you get to see a little behind the scenes magic in how some of the illusions are created.
Among all the great effects are some twists and turns and a really good story. In addition, the acting is great as well. If you’re looking for something with a lot of action and some nice surprises, this is a good one.