Camera tricks

Thinking more on the The Passenger, and the scene that is known as the glideback (described below) - I wondered, does it matter that the glideback happens within one shot? I understand the objective is to contain a sense of truth and time, and that cutting would be considered a simple camera trick. But doesn't the audience accept the whole construct of cinema as a trick? And what bigger trick could there be in Locke climbing over the camera crew, doing a quick change, and then leaping out onto the terrace?