The Incredible Burt Wonderstone has the magic in him, if you know what I mean.
Steve Carrel plays Burt Wonderstone, a magician who along with his partner and best friend, Anton, played by Steve Buscemi has been headlining in Las Vegas for a decade. He has allowed success to go to his head and has lost passion and interest in magic, which causes a fall out between the two friends. As Wonderstone deals with going from rich to poor and from famous to a “has been,” he must deal with a unique up-and-coming “magic” act played by Jim Carrey, who is cocky and weird. In an attempt to make a comeback, Wonderstone joins forces with an old magician who was his idol as a child. Rance Holloway, played by Alan Arkin, his partner Anton and his original show assistant Jane, played by Olivia Wilder, evolve into the love interest in the story. Rated PG-13, this is not a movie I would watch with my grandmother, but with friends it is a fantastic source of entertainment.
Carrel is always funny and cannot do any wrong. Although I don’t consider this to be his best movie, I do consider it a solid movie on his part. It’s hard to live up to the box office hits Carrel has had in his career, but this is definitely not a movie he should be ashamed of. This is the first time I have seen Carrel play a character that everyone hates for the majority of the movie. He isn’t lovable but rather an egotistical jerk which demonstrates how versatile Carrel is as an actor.
I am not used to seeing Jim Carrey as a supporting role but, while I wish I could have watched more of him, he was great. He played his character well and demonstrated his veteran acting chops.
Alan Arken is a classic. You can see how much time he has put into developing his skills throughout the years. His comedic timing is perfect and he provided a lot of big laughs within the film.
Olivia Wilde is brilliant. After seeing her on the TV show “House,” I wasn’t expecting her to be funny, but she proved me wrong. Her comedic timing is Tina Fey-ish which is the highest compliment I can give.
While the jokes were simple, they were also genius. The script went back to the basics as far as comedy is concerned by utilizing junior high jokes and immaturity and balancing that with a bit of mature adult humor which is why it was so funny.
If you are looking to be entertained and to laugh at some quality comedy then this is the movie for you.
