Movie Review - The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone **½ (PG-13) Steve Carell stars in this almost-funny-enough comedy as a headlining Las Vegas magician who has lost his way. We see how he and his partner (Steve Buscemi) bonded as nerdy children in 1982, glomming onto magic tricks as their own Zenlike path to enlightenment... or at least to the end of being ostracized and bullied by the other kids.

Fast-forward to the present. They’ve been doing the same glitzy, hokey act for over a decade, earning fame, fortune and their own theater attached to a major casino. But that youthful capacity for awe has dissipated for Carell’s Wonderstone, turning him into a smug, jaded jerk. The plot basically follows the format of one of his best movies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, as a guy at the top of his overpaid niche in the entertainment world loses it all from undeserved vanity, bottoms out, and must learn to be a better person if he ever hopes to rise from the ashes of his self-destruction. Despite a wealth of comedic assets (Jim Carrey as a Criss Angel Mindfreak-esque rival; Alan Arkin as a Yodalike mentor figure, and the eminently-spoofable milieu of Vegas’ schmaltzy slice of Showbiz, much of the film is surprisingly flat.

Carrey’s character is hilarious, but we never quite get a handle on what’s driving his manic engine. Wonderstone is more obtuse than he needed to be. Buscemi, Olivia Wilde (their reluctant assistant), and Jay Mohr (a magic colleague of lesser stature) are under-deployed. Everyone  winds up being caricatures, keeping their fates from mattering as much as they should have.

Screenwriters John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein have spent most of their careers in television. Maybe they’re not ready for the big screen, delivering this near-miss, with too many dry spells between the laughs, although one of the best yuks comes after you think they’re done. If you’ve made it that far, don’t leave too soon. (3/15/13)