Let me just answer the question everyone is asking; yes, “It’s Magic” is played during “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”. Don’t worry if you don’t hear it during the flick, it’s played at the end, it’s in this magician comedy. I suppose that proves how dull “Burt” is; the presence of a 1970’s tune is far more intriguing than anything occurring in the movie itself.
Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) is a magician whose fame is only exceeded by his ego, which causes troubles with his longtime friend and magic partner Anton (Steve Buscemi). When a new magician, Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), quickly surpasses Burt in terms of both fame and quality magic, Burt soon rediscovers the true meaning of magic.
I’ve always thought highly of Carell, especially his work in movies like “Anchorman” and “Crazy Stupid Love”. Here, he plays a character that’s much different than prior roles due to him being more of a jerk than any kind of likable person. It’s hard to buy him becoming a better person, not to mention that anyone would still be willing to put up with him even after he’s transformed into a nice guy.. Pity, as Carell has shown throughout his career that he’s an expert at timing and being the perfect flustered and/or overeager straight man.
The rest of the cast varies, with many looking a bit lost amongst the mess of a script. Steve Buscemi doesn’t get to do much, but he’s always a welcome personality to see at the movies. Olivia Wilde has a pretty cliche and underdeveloped role as the romantic interest that feels forced, reducing her potential to show any sense of acting.
Alan Arkin, his first role post “Argo”, doesn’t do much, but does get to easily be the best part of the movie. Similar to Eddie Murphy’s turn in “Tower Heist” in 2011, Jim Carrey hopes to regain some of his past comedic glory in the role as Steve Gray, but never gets the opportunity to do much except yell and do some surprisingly violent and grotesque magic tricks. Of all people, James Gandolfini and Brad Garrett score the most laughs in their smaller roles.
The script is filled with underdeveloped characters and a borderline schizophrenic tone, with “funny” moments that surprisingly fail and emotional moments that feel forced. To boot, various characters simply do something for no reason; a characters disease is treated as a pivotal emotional moment in one scene, and then forgotten in the next scene. These terrible decisions reduce the potential both the cast and the concept bring. I will note though, that I did enjoy seeing the various theatrical performances Anton and Burt put on while performing magic, their various scripted settings revolving around their acts felt authentic and appropriately cheesy.
With a cast this talented, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” should’ve been a modern day comedy classic, but it never even come close to that. An underdeveloped script and an unlikable lead ruin the film, though the cast is likable enough that the movie never devolves into a torturous experience. Still, this should’ve been so much more and made me wonder how much more fun this flick would’ve been if a certain magi-,sorry illusionist, from “Arrested Development” had popped by. At least then, something humorous might’ve occurred.
