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(Uneven, over-the-top comedy)
It is all about the magical world of magic, from the early days to present. The clever premise, unfortunately, is lost in the over-the-top attempt at humor.
Steve Carell stars as the title character, an ambitious, conceited, self-centered magician. Steve Buscemi plays his childhood pal who teams up with him to form a Las Vegas act that headlines for years at Bally’s.
It all begins when a nerdy, bullied Burt Wonderstone is given a magic kit (Remember them?) for his birthday. The rest is history, as Burt and Anton form an SRO act titled “A Magical Friendship,” which turns out to be not so magical. Burt is verbally abusive to his childhood pal, goes through female assistants faster than making a bunny disappear, and eventually loses his pal, female assistant and star billing.
Reduced to hawking Bounty at Big Lots and performing at assisted living facilities, he meets his childhood hero, a disillusioned illusionist Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin) and eventually finds redemption. and a new act.
Jim Carrey plays a new breed “magician” who finds fame by doing death defying stunts, like pounding a nail with his head and lying on hot coals. Talk about over the top, Carrey has a chance to play his wild and crazy character.
There’s romance along the way, as Olivia Wilde plays his assistant, who worships this jerk. James Gandolphi plays the casino owner who hires, then fires, Wonderstone.
There are some interesting peeks at the world of magic, but the plot gets way out of control, leading to an utterly ridiculous conclusion. If you like this type of humor, and can take Carell’s self-rightousness and Carrey’s craziness for an hour and 40 minutes, you’ll get a few good laughs out of it.
Rated PG-13, with some profanity and a few gross moments.