The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Plot synopsis:
In 1982, young Albert is harassed by bullies. His mother gives him a special magic trick set by veteran magician Rance Holloway as his birthday present. He studies the instructional video and begins to practice some tricks, attracting the attention of a classmate, Anthony. They practice together and eventually become professional magicians Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton, earning them success and an ongoing headlining act at the Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas. However, after ten years of performing the same tricks over and over again, Anton is fed up with Burt's ego, which has already cost them previous female assistants, all called "Nicole" in the act. In a rush, Burt enlists production assistant Jane as the new Nicole.
Burt and Anton encounter up-and-coming street magician Steve Gray performing a unique yet horrifying card trick for his TV magic show, Brain Rapist. Audience numbers soon dwindle at Burt and Anton's show, upsetting Bally's owner Doug Munny. Taking a cue from Gray's endurance-based stunts, Anton suggests that he and Burt try a similar tack—locking themselves in a Plexiglas cage called the Hot Box hung above ground. Overconfident, Burt does not prepare for the stunt and almost instantly falls into a panic, causing the stunt to fail and injuring Anton. Anton angrily ends his partnership with Burt, and Jane also quits.
Burt refuses to change his act, staging his two-man show alone to disastrous results. Munny shuts down the production and Burt, having squandered his earnings over the years, is left broke. Despondent, Burt tries to find work and is eventually hired as an entertainer at an assisted-living facility catering to former Vegas entertainers. There he meets Holloway, who retired several years before because he found that he was no longer happy performing. Holloway counsels Burt about magic, inspiring him to remember the initial wonder that led him to become a magician. Burt is shocked to see Jane—herself an aspiring magician—working for Gray. Appalled by Gray's style, Holloway and Burt polish their own tricks. Jane visits her grandmother at the facility and patches things up with Burt.
Doug is opening a new casino-hotel and is offering a five-year contract to the winner of a talent search on the casino's opening night. He invites Burt to do a magic show at his son's birthday party, but Gray also appears and tries to upstage Burt with his own tricks. Disgusted by Gray's actions, Jane leaves his show. Burt reconnects with Anton, who has been distributing magic sets in Cambodia. A drug found in Cambodia called kratom that puts users into a deep sleep gives them an idea for a sensational trick.
At the talent search show, Gray's performance involves him drilling into his brain, claiming it will not affect him. This however, backfires, leaving Gray with brain damage. Holloway then introduces Burt, Anton, and Jane's performance, the "Disappearing Audience". The group secretly sedates the audience with kratom sleeping gas and then transports them to an outside location in the same seating arrangement. The audience awakes and responds with awe, and Doug awards the headlining act to Burt and Anton; they ask Jane to be their opening act. The trio then performs the Disappearing Audience trick again, returning everyone to the casino theater, as now mentally-impaired Gray watches on with the drill bit still in his skull.
As the film ends, the final scene shows how Burt, Anton, Holloway and others transported the audience to the open area, by unceremoniously dragging and transporting the unconscious audience members to the area, and hauling them back to the theater in a moving van.

Tags: bleak, entertaining

Review:
As apposed to the 1 min hacker of pentagon in every film.It's a genuinely funny the story of two life long friends and magicians who share a magical act and are threatened by the modern chris angelisc magician played by Jim Carrey.
Its a innocent throw back to the era of stage magicians when rabbits from hats would trigger gasps of amazement by crossed legged kids watching in the front row.The introduction of a 'Criss Angelesque' character was to show the shift in social attitudes in regards to what we consider entertainment is (and jim carrey does it hysterically).Yes the story is not meant to be compared to anything of a serious nature but does have some underlying content that should make us think a little.Today when films like 'Kickass' and 'Jackass' seem to warrant high ratings and are viewed by kids its sad to see such a fun, innocent and laughable film getting a bad rap.In Australia at my cinema everyone was in hysterics (and this was a late session 1/4 full).If you liked Jerry Lewis and can still laugh ...
In a time when there is little in the theater to get excited about, this is a film I quite enjoyed.Steve Carell plays magician Burt Wonderstone, the boastful, self-indulgent, and obnoxiously asinine half to Steve Buscemi, who are partners, and best friends since childhood, in the magic business in Vegas.
However, both Burt's obnoxiousness and a new street magician, played by Jim Carrey, soon get in the way of his success, and he's forced to re-examine what his career means to him.While the magic might be a mystery here, the plot isn't, and it's a plot that goes through all the motions and hits all the points.
Rounding out the cast are an underused Steve Buscemi, who disappears for a good chunk of the film, Olivia Wilde who seems like a bit of a mismatch for the goofy Carell, and James Gandolfini as James Gandolfini running a casino.
It was so pathetically funny watching their ego's destroy them.If you normally don't enjoy comedy from Steve Carell and Jim Carrey then you probably won't like this movie.
They just don't get it.Before CGI, before VFX, all people had were real magicians doing elaborate and jaw dropping acts, in theaters, where live audiences were entertained, not some recorded and processed show.The movie essentially captures that golden age and blends a heart-warming story with magic.Stellar performances by Steve Carrell, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey and Olivia Wilde.
'THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE': Three Stars (Out of Five) A movie with a cast like this (Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde and James Gandolfini) can't be all bad and I'm a little puzzled at how poorly it's done at the box office.
Carell, Carrey and the rest of the cast have all done much better work but this isn't too big of a blemish for any of their resumes.The film stars Carell and Buscemi as popular magicians, Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton, who've had a sold-out stage act on the Las Vegas Strip for years.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is not really a bad movie if you can get through the fact that the entire film itself is basically a magic show, but that being said, this is still a pretty funny movie that has plenty of well-timed jokes, lots of acting talent, pretty cool stunts, and Jim Carrey's best performance in ages.
But as Burt is trying to get himself back into the show, he has to compete with a rising star named Steve Gray who takes magic to a whole new level.This film features a talented cast and for the most part, they do their job well.
James Gandolfini was pretty good here as well, though I feel like he was miscasted and finally Alan Arkin was very good despite his small screen time.Overall, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a pretty fun movie and it can be very funny at times.
And, even though I thought "I Love You Phillip Morris" (a film nobody saw) was an excellent movie, this particular comedy about a silly little magician rivalry contains the funniest (and most watchable) performance Jim Carrey has given in over a decade.The premise surrounds nerdy boyhood best friends, who grow up to become the infamous stage magicians Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi); sort of an American version of Siegfried and Roy without the tiger.
But when a Criss Angel-esque street magician named Steve Gray begins to take the duo's fan base away by performing a myriad of gruesome and outlandish "magic tricks", Wonderstone and Marvelton must find a way to freshen up their act before their style of magic is left in the past.The Acting: Yes this film also stars Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin.
Even Buscemi, who is not at all a comedic actor, is used strategically well, as a sort of comedic voice of reason.Final Thought: While I understand that a majority of critics have called this film a "hit and miss", focusing on the simplistic storyline rather than the hilarious performances, or hiding behind the vastly overused "all comedy is subjective" theory, which some critics fall back on in order to undersell funny movies, it is my opinion that many of these "rotten tomato" opinions are unfairly misguided.
try again gang.more details: The only characters that engendered real empathy from audience got no real depth or screen time Somehow Jim Carrey, S Carrell and J Mohr magically were transformed into non-funny entertainers (though Carrey struggled through with a couple nice fleeting seconds of what might have been) The story -incredible as in "in...credible"The only good news is that the way they skewered a certain uber-powerful Vegas billionaire was such that I trust he may ensure this writing/directing team does not commit this type of malpractice again.ps: postcredit snaps of audience getting abused - very very very symbolically accurate to my experience too - was that a wink/nod to what was just done?.
Let me begin this review by stating one thing: This was a very funny movie!The cast - Steve Carell (Burt Wonderstone) plays a schmaltzy, self centered, egotistical Vegas magician perfectly.
It also goes to show just how far we've taken the idea of "magic" and what "magicians" should be.The movie is fun, funny, and a bit predictable at times, but the predictable moments are still pulled off for a few laughs, such as when Burt and Anton are "testing" their knock-out vapor.
And everyone is hating Jim Carrey role only because his role is obviously making fun of street magicians like Cris Angel and David Blaine combined.The jokes are not the best, but it isn't lame like the jokes in Scary Movie.Storyline doesn't feel too original and is predictable, but still it is interesting.It totally remains me of my childhood when my dad bought me a Mark Wilson video course in magic kit!!.
The plot is awful with Jim Carrey playing a "Cris Angel" type character with pain based magic, who is challenging a traditional duo magician act (Carell and Buscemi)found in the big hotels in Vegas.
However, Steve Buscemi as Carell's partner in magic is watchable as usual, old magician and mentor Alan Arkin was at least funny in some spots, and a bright light (if there was one) was Olivia Wilde, although her character and place in the storyline as a female magician intern was weak, and did not mesh with the plot.
This supposedly humorous look at a declining, egotistical Vegas magician, Burt Wonderstone, and his partner, Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi), is rarely funny or magical.
The sequined jumpsuits and flowing wigs of Siegfried & Roy are there in their cheesy glory, but the camp falls flat around this film.Incredible tries to make weighty the passage of the old-style Las Vegas entertainer to the new, embodied by the buff Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose modern ethic is to lie on coals or shoot himself in the head, among other oddly sadistic stunts.
Once again Alan Arkin plays a memorably small role, this time as the old magician who first inspired the little Burt.This film is neither the commercial magic of David Copperfield (who does a cameo here) or the downright silliness of Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent (one of his absurdly divinations may remind you how humorously deficient Incredible is: "May a desert weirdo lower his figs into your mother's soup").An inherent liability for a film about magic is the tricks could be taken as movie magic and lose their basic charm.
All those have a gravitas that comes from excellent writing, not strength in screenwriter Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) this time around.Although The Incredible Burt Wonderstone would have liked the mix of humor and magic in the renowned Penn & Teller act, what it ended up with was very bad Judge Harry T.
He cherishes a onetime birthday gift from his absentee mother, a Magic Kit by Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin).Steve Buscemi is Anton Marvelton, a gangly, girly-looking, sickly kid who became Burt's best friend, confidante, ally, and when Burt Wonderstone eventually became a world-class magician, his assistant and partner.James Gandolfini is hotelier Doug, a self-absorbed, profits-oriented businessman who can't even remember his kid's age (10) but promises to grant the kid's birthday wish -- a magic act by the incredible Burt Wonderstone (one of Doug's clients).
Alas, Wonderstone's star is waning, eclipsed annoyingly by street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose brand of magic would be right home on those dime-a-dozen reality TV shows featuring obscure magicians suddenly rising to fame with less-than-orthodox gimmickry.It doesn't help that Wonderstone has an ego the size of a Harry Houdini human aquarium (I'm mixing metaphors here, or do I say, legendary objects), and he's quite used to luxurious hotel rooms with the help obsequiously catering to his every whim; international fans filling his Las Vegas act with thunderous applause; women succumbing to his (vapid) charm and ending up on his rather gigantic bed.Enter the beautiful Jane (Olivia Wilde), who has been a staff for 10 years on the classic Wonderstone/Marvelton act, and is suddenly thrust (unwantedly) into the limelight to replace the umpteenth female assistant quitting in frustration and tears (the female assistant in magic shows is always sawed in half, remember?).
However, Carell works his magic on me with THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE, for, pitted beside a comic fireball like Jim Carrey, he avoids mugging or overacting but instead goes for natural comedy.
Cunningham (art director for TRAFFIC, OCEAN'S ELEVEN, SIGNS, SOLARIS, VAN HELSING, 2009's STAR TREK, ANGELS & DEMONS, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, BRIDESMAIDS), as well as the great musical scoring by Lyle Workman (THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, SUPERBAD, YES MAN, American REUNION, 21 AND OVER).Matthew Clark (Emmy nominee for a 2006 episode for his work on the TV show "30 ROCK") photographs the film beautifully, for a movie about magic and magicians need more razzle-dazzle than is usual.
The film is also edited magically (excuse the pun) by Lee Haxall (MEET THE FOCKERS, BEERFEST, THE LOVE GURU, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE, THE CHANGE-UP).Carell surprises, Carrey is his usual manic self (you truly hate his character, but he gets his just desserts at the ending), Wilde is beautiful, Gandolfini and Arkin shine in their key roles, and Buscemi is simply terrific (why don't somebody give this guy his own movie!).
what was the point?Having heard about this movie before and looking at the list of actors in it, I had high hopes for it, as each of them have been pretty good in different roles up to now.But somehow after watching this movie I ended up disliking all of them, In my view there is lots of talent in this movie but somehow it has been wasted, I did not find this movie funny at all, i did not feel any chemistry between the actors and somehow it felt as thou they do not really know how they should try to make the audience laugh.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone promised to be an inventive comedic spectacle that teams two of the funniest men alive (Steve Carrel and Jim Carrey) to provide a barrel of laughs and cash in as the spring's biggest movie.
In this case, we have two young boys who are both a bit nerdy and anemic who are bullied at school and escape their lonely childhood by practicing magic tricks which they then turn in to a successful 30 year professional career as big box office stage magicians.The two magicians are played by Steve Carell as the Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Steve Buscemi as Anton Marvelton.
Strong supporting roles are played by Olivia Wilde as their able assistant Jane on stage, their mentor Alan Arkin as magician and video magic trainer Rance Holloway and rounding out the cast as their arch nemesis performer is a wonderful performance once again by Jim Carrey as Steve Gray.
That mostly doesn't happen here, with quite a few bits of sleight of hand presented as single takes with no obvious trick photography.The story is a "feel good" one, with the characters growing into better people in a better situation by the end.The one really outrageous thing in the mix is Jim Carrey's stunts, which display the combination of fearlessness, craziness, and exaggeration with which he burst on the scene twenty-five years ago.
What a pile of crap this was,watched the trailer and was like 'jim carey,steve carel ,steve buscemi in the same movie,could work,how wrong was i!i gave it a 2 and crediting it to the agents of these brilliant actors and actress (olivia wilde) who was able to convince them that doing this movie was a good idea,u guys clearly are the Ari Golds.
Let's be honest, if you put Steve Carell, Jim Carrey and Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi and Alan Arkin in a different movie with a different plot, you would think it had potential to be hilarious!
The problem is the wonder of magic does not translate to the big screen because movie magic is way more impressive than anything an 8 year-old learns from a VHS tape and cardboard box with cards and ropes.Carell, Buscemi and Gandolfini are goofy, in a light-hearted enjoyable kind of way, Olivia Wilde even eventually finds her place in the movie, but "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" just isn't funny.
But what's more interesting here to note is the changing fortunes of the characters, and how ti mirrors the real life situation of the actors who played them, and that itself is magic of sorts.Back when Jim Carrey was at the top of the game and headlining Bruce Almighty, Steve Carell only had a bit role as a television anchor, but the impact of that role could not be understated because he literally blew away the competition with those limited minutes provided.
In Burt Wonderstone's case, it meant growing out of his nerdy shell, and becoming incredibly successful at his chosen career path, together with best pal Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) they own the strip in Vegas with their magic acts, and with that comes big money, instant recognition, and alas, plenty of ego in Burt's case.Which makes him a big A-hole character, and we're soon introduced to the fact that their partnership and friendship have become strained because success had gone to Burt's head, that he starts to treat people like dirt.
Plus that little bit of encouragement and requisite romantic interest in the form of Jane (Olivia Wilde), an aspiring magician herself, who finds the glass ceiling in her chosen profession limiting her ambitions to just being a magician's assistant.While the middle sections may sag due to expected plot development, Don Scardino had wonderful bookends for the movie, with that almost complete sequence of A Magical Friendship that Burt and Anton performs with their music and chosen routines, and that in the finale which will, erm, knock your socks off with its sheer audacity, and of course with that tinge of slapstick comedy that runs through its end credits roll.
Then there's Jim Carrey hamming it up as a renegade street magician, then you're all set for quite an enjoyable time with this film offering, that will work a lot more if you, like me, grew up being a fan of magic and shows of illusion.
I was very entertained by this one, It has been a long time since Jim Carrey has been in a crazy role like this, even though he is a bi-character it is very good seeing him again as his old self.The main character is Burt Wonderstone played by Steve Carell and his sidekick Anton Marvelton played by Steve Buscemi, it is a very good couple even though they are a strange constellation :) This magician couple have amazed audiences for many years in Las Vegas, but now the younger more mystical and wild Steve Gray played by Jim Carrey have been captivating audiences on the street and that makes Burt Wonderstone seem old and outdated.A lot happen during the course of the movie, some is fun, some is a bit lame, some is extreme and some too much.
But no, he continues to think only of himself.The script completely overlooks the fact the Burt Wonderstone is so undeserving of any success over his rival.Jim Carrey and Steve Buscemi are the only 2 who come close to making this film watchable and yet the script restricts all of that talent.It seems a shame to have wasted all of these talented performers on such an inept movie.
Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Jim Carrey, James Gandolfini, Alan Arkin....an unbelievable cast stuck in a terrible script.Some serious tweaking to the script could have really saved this film from the disaster that it is.It's not even funny..
And though it was a little disappointing, I still had a good time.Burt is a magician, and his partner, Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) grew up as best friends and got through their adolescent years watching magic tapes from Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin).