In 'Amazing Johnathan,' a director confronts meth addiction — and maybe even tries it himself

The filmmaker brought the meth pipe to his lips, eyeing the smoky glass bulb with apprehension.

"Now hit it," he was instructed. "Hit it hard."

Ben Berman had never tried the illegal drug before. He describes himself as "Jewish and very neurotic," the kind of guy who gets a phone call from a relative and often worries it's an indication that someone has died.

But his movie was falling apart. He was nearly two years into making a documentary about the Amazing Johnathan, aka John Szeles, a comic magician who'd been forced into early retirement in 2014 after being diagnosed with a fatal heart condition. With his cardiomyopathy and diabetes and being a raging addict who smoked meth multiple times a day, doctors gave Szeles a year to live. And yet here he was, almost 60 and somehow breathing.

It was something of a miracle, and Berman wasn't the only one intrigued. As the director began filming Szeles' supposed final years, he learned that his subject had also granted access to competing documentary camera crews. One of which had supposedly won