A magician competes in an international magic competition where he goes head to head with a female street magician he has fallen in love with. This film shows great magic performed by a cast of professional magicians. Like a great musical where the songs and the story are seamlessly intertwined, Desperate Acts of Magic does the same, mixing story and magic as one.

The film chronicles the exploits of the title character, Charlie, played by Raymond J. Barry (Training Day) a career criminal intent on scoring one last big pay day. When his "perfect crime" goes bad, Charlie flees to Los Angeles to hide out with his estranged son, Danny, played by Michael Weatherly. What ensues reveals the true nature of some of the most unsavory of characters.