The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: Astonishingly Gifted at Making the Laughs Disappear!

Despite a talented, all-star comedy cast, director Don Scardino and screenwriters Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley fail to connect with Burt Wonderstone. While there are certainly a few laughs to be had, the film never comes together, languishing in the realm of missed punch lines and predictable outcomes, largely wasting audience’s want for wonder.

Premise: A magical team hits an all-time low and must rediscover the reason they turned to magic in the first place Result: A fair, often dull film that does very little to distinguish itself and a lot to make itself forgettable.

Burt Wonderstone opens with young Albert (Mason Cook), a latch key, bullied child with caustic wit.  But his sad, lonely life suddenly changes when his mother gifts him a Rance Halloway Magic Kit.  He soon meets his geek doppelganger in young Anthony (Luke Vanek) and the two become best friends and magic partners, building a life together in magic.  This opening sequence is quite strong and sadly sets a high-bar for a film that soon becomes as stale as the re-hashed magical acts seen on stage.

We quickly montage through their lives, building their magic and careers as eventual head-liners at Ballys, now The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). But just as Burt’s ego has expanded to astronomical size visually represented by his XXX-King bed, their friendship and the relevance of their show has withered into oblivion.

Observed by reluctant assistant Jane (Olivia Wilde), lesser colleagues like Rick the Implausible (Jay Mohr) and Lucius Belvedere (Michael Herbig), and boss slash casino mogul Doug Munny (James Gandolfini), the two have grown apart to dangerous levels and it is affecting their show.  Enter Street Magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) – essentially a parody of Chris Angel- and you soon have these two falling into ruin.

The rest of the film follows the predictable storyline where Burt must turn his life around from vapid, self-involved has-been into someone who one must embrace humility and recall the reasons he became a magician in the first place. In addition, the pre-requisite love interest and “make-up” plotlines with Jane and Anton end up detracting from the film, establishing a desert of re-hash that will leave observers silent and nodding off.  But a hilarious Burt-minus-Anton scene and some good moments with Rance Halloway (Alan Arkin) do work to liven this soporific script, although not nearly enough.

The acting in the film is actually strong throughout, although it is the nature of the characters that hinders the performances.  Carell is passable in this role and certainly embodies Wonderstone, but this is a double-edged sword: how interesting can you be embodying a cliché. Besides, his delivery is a bit too reminiscent of past roles to really drive the film.

Buscemi, as an ironically marginal character, is actually someone we long to see more of in this role.  A good side story where he demonstrates his own magical prowess might have given greater depth to the film but instead the team thought that one-dimensional was the key to success here and  as a result, we don’t get nearly enough of his facial expressions and subtle comedic timing.

Carrey does as much in this film as humanly possible but is largely obscured by the absurd character.  He certainly has his moments, but like most of the jokes and parodies in the film, the welcome is quickly outlived.  Wilde, on the other hand, is a pleasant surprise, evolving on screen and demonstrating comedic expressions of her own that keep her relevant. She fits in smoothly with this veteran cast and holds her own.

Arkin, for his part, demonstrates why he is a living legend and Academy Award winner.  His comedic timing is impeccable and despite ultimately giving another performance identical to those in his past, observers will be too busy laughing to notice – a true mark of comic talent.

Mohr and Herbig are woefully underused in this film.  Mohr, in particular, is hilarious at every point despite a role that never goes anywhere; and Herbig makes his Siegfried & Roy parody almost work just on sheer talent alone (considering the writers gave him little to work with.)

The resolution of this film approximates hilarity while respectfully keeping a conservative distance.  There is no doubt observers will be smiling, but whether their intermittent chuckles will evolve past that point is doubtful.

And so, Burt Wonderstone is a disappointment.  It is an OK movie with several funny moments rather than a funny movie; and considering the real estate boredom covers in between laughs, it is a true wonder it’s even considered as OK.  But maybe that is Scardino’s own work of magic.

Rating: 6 – A mediocre Prosecco that a cute bartender served you