Magic (as it is performed) is a hard sell for me; I’ve never loved either the illusions themselves nor the showmanship required to distract the audience from perceiving those illusions. It is difficult for me to appreciate such trickery and artificiality. I also don’t enjoy its other definition, when witches and warlocks use magic to change our world and lazy scriptwriters use it to justify plotting of which they have lost control (Brave, for instance). And yet… magic (the third definition, as a cumulative effect) is the most resonant power of cinema. When cinematic elements coalesce into something special, the magic of the movies is one of the greatest joys of my life.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone resides in the first definition. Two nerdy boys bond and grow up to be famous magicians (Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi) whose act in Las Vegas has become stale. An argument and public humiliation ends their association, and the title character (Carell) tries to make it on his own. Don Scardino’s movie then follows a familiar path, as Burt falls from grace, hits rock bottom, experiences professional disaster, learns humility, gradually becomes a better person and begins to rebound. Thankfully, some of this is actually amusing, especially toward the conclusion of the story.
Two actors steal the movie from Carell and Buscemi (an odd, but engaging choice as Carell’s longtime partner). Jim Carrey flexes his comedic muscles (and his rippling body) as a hot new magician whose ideas involving magic are very unconventional. Carrey creates a wacky character without any common sense but with oodles of intensity. The second is Alan Arkin, who plays the magician inspiration who set Burt and Anton (Buscemi) on the road to magic in the first place, now living in a nursing home and bored out of his skull. These supporting characters are far more interesting than the two main men and help focus Burt on the important things in life.
When Arkin shows Carell a trick that blows his mind at the nursing home, the film hits its high mark. Arkin identifies and explains why magic has the effect that it does on so many people, and the movie revels in the joy it produces. From that moment on, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone becomes a movie with a purpose, and much more fun to watch. And be sure to watch into the credits for a sequence that is funnier than anything in the actual movie. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 25 March 2013.