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.

Mr. Ozaki, a Japanese conglomerate businessman living in Los Angeles, hires a beautiful young double (Maria) to protect his real daughter (Lisa) from harm. When Maria is kidnapped by a professional crime organization for a $2 million ransom, her bodyguard, Luke Campbell, conceives a plan to rescue her. By kidnapping the real Lisa Ozaki and turning her over to the kidnappers, Luke hopes to save Maria, and ultimately Lisa, as he knows her father will only pay the ransom for his daughter and not the double. However, the bodyguards hired to watch Lisa have another plan in mind. About to lose their jobs for losing Lisa when they were supposed to keep an eye on her at all times, they decide to steal the ransom money and rescue Lisa, in an attempt to be the heroes and save their jobs