The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Director: Don Scardino
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 1.0
Magician pals Burt (Steve Carell) and Anton (Steve Buscemi) - based loosely on Siegfried and Roy - have a falling out when they try a dangerous stunt and Anton gets injured - elsewhere, a street magician (Jim Carrey) who likes to cut and drill holes in himself - based loosely on Criss Angel and/or David Blaine - is becoming popular in Vegas. With the exception of Alan Arkin's notable turn as a former magician stuck in an Old Age home (and, of course, Olivia Wilde's loveliness), there is little wit, wisdom or intelligence in this slapdash movie, which makes Carell's narcissistic showman so completely obnoxious and egocentric that he's neither amusing to watch nor worth caring about in the slightest - when he does re-team with Anton (predictably so) and best Carrey's 'mindfreak' it's clearly the screenwriters steering it to a pat and ludicrous conclusion: gassing an entire audience and throwing their lifeless bodies into trucks for 'the stunt to end all stunts' is a flagrantly criminal act and not worth applauding. With any luck, it would mean an incredible lawsuit.
