In the midst of a dazzling stage show, magician's assistant Myra Shumway (Bridget Fonda) catches the eye of sleazy industrialist Cliff Wyatt (D.W. Moffett). When Wyatt unwittingly kills Shumway's mentor, a master magician, she flees to Mexico. Furious, Wyatt hires private detective Alex Ross (Russell Crowe) to capture the gorgeous witness to his crime. But, after Ross locates Shumway, he finds himself beguiled by her growing prowess as a magician -- and by the potency of her feminine charms.