#moviereview - The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

 ★☆☆☆☆

Every year, similar movies are released within a few months of each other, and usually, while they share similar traits, they end up being very different. Well, maybe not every year. Last year, there was "Mirror Mirror" and "Snow White and the Huntsman". This year, there's "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" and "Now You See Me". 

I have a feeling like, with last year's two similar "Snow White" films, the latter will be the better film. 

[spoilers ahead]



Let me start by saying this: my nerd might be showing, but I did think to myself while watching this, "This is like an AU (alternate universe) version of 'Bruce Almighty'." So think about that, and if you didn't like that movie, you might not like this one. You might, though, I'm not saying you won't, but I know I did enjoy "Bruce Almighty" more than I enjoyed this movie.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this film, but I was expecting it to be both funnier and less gruesome than what it actually was. 

I know what you're thinking. Gruesome? Oh, don't worry, I'll be getting to that soon enough. 

We first see Albert "Burt" Wonderstone (Mason Cook) celebrating his birthday alone. His Mother gave him a special magic kit by the magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin). We next see him sitting alone at lunch, with other kids laughing at him practicing his magic. Anthony "Anton" Marvelton walks up to Burt, fascinated by his trick ("the disappearing handkerchief"). This would be the start of their long, long friendship. 

We next see the duo (Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi) 20 years later. Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) is impressed by their act and signs them up for a deal at Bally's in Las Vegas. We see them 10 years later. We don't see this from their stage act, but Burt and Anton are sick of each other. While Burt is living in his own fantasy world, due to the enlargement of his ego over the past 10 years, Anton just wants something new. They've been performing the same stage act ("Anton & Burt: A Magical Friendship") for 10 years. Their outfits, their music, their routines... it's all been the same. Doug and Anton agree - it's time for something new.

Burt and Anton are walking the streets when they come across a new magician, Steve Gray (Jim Carrey). I won't spoil his act, but I still shudder thinking about how he retrieves a card. Steve is different from Burt, Anton, Rance, and other magicians. His magic is a bit unconventional. He instigates and provokes people. He physically hurts himself, and whatever or whomever he uses in his trick, to achieve these "magical" results.

Steve has his own TV show, "Steve Gray: Brain Rapist". (Classy, I know.) Burt and Anton realize that perhaps, in order to gain their audience back, they need to place themselves more into the public eye, more outside of Bally's. They decide to place themselves in a "hot box" - a glass box with holes cut in that that, due to the light reflecting off the buildings, and the light in general, will cause the box to heat up to 200degrees. Anton knows he needs to practice staying in that type of environment, but Burt doesn't think that's necessary. I won't spoil what happens next (it's in the commercials), but it doesn't go well.

The beginning was cute, and I enjoyed watching Burt and Anton as children, learning and discovering magic. This could've easily worked as a children's movie, a dark comedy, or even a mixture of both. (An example of a darker children's movie: "Matilda".) It started off as sweet, but then it just...well, it went into several directions. With it being labeled as a "comedy", and with Steve [Carrell] and Jim's involvement in it, it should have been a whole lot funnier than what it was. It got maybe two laughs out of me?

As a trivial side-note, I hated Steve Carrell's tan in this. I can tolerate the blonde hair, but his tan... It wasn't a tan, it wasn't even a horrible orange tan, he looked downright dirty. It's almost as if they put dirt on his face. Yes, this was a bit of a silly thing to hate, but I kept thinking about that throughout the film.

I wasn't fond of this movie, and I ceratinly won't be Redbox-ing this, or seeing it in the second-run theatre. I might watch it when and if it comes on Netflix/cable, but it won't be something that I'll be watching out for when it first becomes available.

Here's to hoping Steve and Jim's next collaboration is better.

Watch the trailer here: