Genre: Comedy
Director: Don Scardino
Plot: A Vegas magician, who has become obsolete thanks to an edgy street magician's crazy stunts, tries to revive his career with the help of the legendary magician who inspired him in the first place.
The gist: Steve Carell is Burt Wonderstone, the Vegas magician who has a fallout with his longtime partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). Realising he's doomed after Criss Angel like street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) upstages him and no one else will hire him for a show, Burt gets some help from aspiring magician Jane (Olivia Wilde) and retired legend Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin).
Carell has made a career out of being a loser who eventually rises to the occasion, and he does the same here, with mixed results. It's a little tiresome getting past the part where he doesn't understand the problem, but it's sort of worth it when he finally takes himself seriously and puts on a bit of his charm.
Same goes for Carrey, who always plays the over the top character, and his performance here is reminiscent of his Fire Marshall Bill character from In Living Color, but with less theatrics.
Overall the film takes a bit of time to get going but sort of redeems itself towards the end.
The good: Always good to see Olivia Wilde here, playing the smart and pretty magician who teaches Burt a thing or two about respect. Kudos to the writers for making her character a serious one instead of the type Kristen Wiig is well known for playing. Alan Arkin lends his great screen presence as the mentor. And I gotta say, some of the magic tricks look cool, even though you've probably seen them before.
The bad: Carell and Carrey are pretty much playing the same characters they're known for here, even though it's good, but predictable. Steve Buscemi is underused here. And that terrible Imagine Dragons song, hate it.
Verdict: A decent comedy. Predictable, but it has its moments. (3/5)
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