Burt Wonderstone (Carrell, Mason Cook) and his friend in
magic, Anton Marvelton (Buscemi, Luke Vanek) have been performing magic tricks
on the Vegas strip for the last ten years. Their large-scale traditional magic
show is quickly falling out of fashion in favour of the edgier work of a new
generation of magicians, embodied in Steve Grey (Jim Carrey). When Burt and
Anton go their separate ways, Burt has to find a way back to the top.
The film that comes to mind when watching The Incredible
Burt Wonderstone is the 2007 comedy, The Magicians. Although both have
differing stories, both are comedies based on showbiz magicians and both boast
a decent leading cast (in Magicians’ case, David Mitchell and Robert Webb
against Wonderstone’s two Steves, Buscemi and Carrell) and both are, given
that, a bit of a let-down. In Wonderstone’s case, it’s just the feeling that it’s
all been done before and with magic being a gimmick hiding the clichéd and
predictable story. The plot’s twists and turns are always clear and many of the
gags have obvious, and rather cheap, pay-offs. The film’s brightest spark is
definitely the great performance of Alan Arkin as Burt Wonderstone’s idol. But,
as mentioned, aside from a few chuckles and a cast that are often extremely
good at comic performances as well a promising set-up of the old school of
magic versus the new school, the film never truly becomes anything more than
faintly amusing.
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