Movie Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

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The only thing incredible about this movie was that it ever got made. The script is flat. I'm talking phoned in plot and godawful dialogue. The direction is boring. It's a film about Vegas magicians, you'd think some dazzling camera work might complement the theatrical/hokey subject matter...but we get none of that. The film boasts an all-star cast whose talents are largely wasted and by the end the movie feels about a half hour longer than it really was. The film's only saving grace is Jim Carrey. Oh Jim. Welcome back. Earth needs you.

Jim Carrey plays a Criss Angel/David Blaine type street magician who swoops into Las Vegas and steals Steve Carell's thunder. Carrey steals every scene he's in and literally carries (get it? get it?) the entire film. If The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is remembered for anything, I hope it's for Jim Carrey's triumphant return to slapstick comedy. Even at 51 years old, nobody does it better. Carrey has spent the past fifteen years doing kid films, lighthearted comedies (re: Bruce Almighty ripoffs) and stretching his wings as a serious actor (The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Love You Phillip Morris). His performance as wacked out street magician Steve Grey, is his first over the top, laugh out loud funny role in years. Watching Carrey contort and mutilate himself onscreen was reminiscent of his Ace Ventura and Fire Marshall Bill days.

Too bad he's not the star though. I like Steve Carell but his one dimensional character is thoroughly unlikeable. Even when he undergoes the standard change of heart in the third act, he's still a boring douche. Steve Buscemi and Alan Arkin are great in their supporting roles as well, even with such a sorry script. Their characters bring the heart, Jim Carrey brings the laughs, but it's still not enough to salvage The Incredible Burt Wonderstone from being a mediocre film. 

Warning: Almost every funny bit from the movie is in this trailer.