The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Cast of Characters:
Albert Wunderstein/Burt Wonderstone - Steve Carell
Anthony Mertz/Anton Marvelton - Steve Buscemi
Jane - Olivia Wilde
Rance Holloway - Alan Arkin
Doug Munny - James Gandolfini
Steve Gray - Jim Carrey

Director - Don Scardino
Screenplay - John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug related incident and language

      Absurdist comedies have always been a hit or miss endeavor. That’s mainly because most, if not all of them follow the same formula. Whether it be Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, or Blades of Glory (must’ve run out of subtitles), all have the same formula and stock of characters: the one or two antagonists (one likeable, the other a pompous blowhard), the eccentric villain, the obligatory female assistant that ends up being the love interest, and the oddball, aging mentor. With The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, you know it’s gonna follow the same path like the rest of them. Will it be a hit or miss?

      In 1982, Albert Wunderstein is a pint-sized boy who’s harassed by local bullies. On his birthday, his mother gets him a magic trick set by legendary veteran magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin). Seeing it as an escape from the everyday pounding he’d normally face each day from the bullies, Wunderstein practices all the tricks he can. His ability to now perform magic tricks attracts the attention of one his schoolmates, Anthony Mertz. The two form an instant friendship and become magician partners.

      Years later, Wunderstein (Steve Carell) and Mertz (Steve Buscemi) are now grown up. For the past few years they’ve been performing an ongoing gig with their assistant Jane (Olivia Wilde) at the Aztec Casino in Las Vegas under the stage names Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton. The problem they’ve run into recently - as brought up by casino owner Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) - is that their act has gone stale. For the past few years Burt and Anton have been doing the same tricks, same routines, even the same introduction song (“Abracadabra” by The Steve Miller Band). An even bigger problem for the duo is brought before them when Munny shows them a TV advertisement for cutting edge street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) and his viral show Brain Rapist (Clearly a satire of Criss Angel's Mind Freak) . Munny feels Gray’s street magic is the future of magic and that if Burt and Anton aren’t gonna update their act, he’ll have to find new performers ‘cause what they’re doing now ain’t selling tickets.

      As Burt and Anton’s star begins to fade and Steve Gray’s begins to rise, Burt starts looking for work elsewhere. Eventually, he lands an entertainer gig at a nearby assisted living center where he finds living there, of all people, his childhood hero - Rance Holloway. Holloway has now given up magic for years, but seeing the man that got him into magic in the first place seems to have rekindled a passion fire for the magic he once loved. From that moment, Burt sets out to reclaim his spot back in Vegas with an act amazing enough to bring back his relevancy.

      Like I said up at the top, absurdist comedies of this kind tend to be hit or miss. For the most part, the Will Ferrell comedies of the past decade were mostly miss after miss (Old School and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy were rare exceptions) not ‘cause the stories were the same, but ‘cause the characters he'd play were all the same too and it was the same annoying comic bit every time. I will admit The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is certainly predictable, but I gotta tell you, I laughed quite a bit. For starters, Jim Carrey hits a grand slam as the Criss Angel-like Steve Gray. I haven’t laughed at a Jim Carrey performance this hard since 2003's Bruce Almighty. There’s one scene in particular where both Gray and Wonderstone go off in a “Anything you can do I can do better” type magic showdown at a kid’s birthday party that’s flat-out hysterical. The other supporting performances are solid as well. Buscemi has a great comic moment when after Anton and Burt have a fallout, Anton goes on a charity mission to Cambodia. There he hands out magic kits to the native kids (instead of food and clean water, of course), and the reaction by the kids is priceless. Carell has a similarly great awkward moment during a solo show where, having done the same duo routine for years and years, has to improvise his set on a whim that ends up looking like he’s talking to himself. Also, both Olivia Wilde and Academy Award winner Alan Arkin manage to take the obligatory roles of the love interest and aging mentor respectively and make them both work effectively. Arkin in particular is terrific, delivering a great gag on how he actually performed a certain trick.

      Yeah, it has its weak moments. James Gandolfini is a very talented actor (Watch Zero Dark Thirty if you don’t believe me), but here he seemed slightly miscast. I mean, it’s a bit cliche to have the big, hulking mafioso type character play the casino owner. Aside from that, this may be a predictable comedy, but it still achieved the goal any comedy sets out to do, and that’s make me laugh. You know, when I first saw Carrey show up on the screen, I kinda let out a small chuckle that built up to a loud laugh. After seeing him do unfunny flop after flop for the past number of years, it’s great to see him in - a supporting role, mind you - but still one hell of a hysterical one. I give The Incredible Burt Wonderstone a B+ (★★★½).