When I first saw photos of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey as rival magicians Burt Wonderstone and Steve Gray, I couldn't be more excited for "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone". Then when I saw a trailer, I got excited again. Then the reviews started coming out, and I began having doubts. But as a true Jim Carrey and Steve Carell believer, I saw the movie anyways. 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). Once they grew up and became legitimate magicians, their friendship started to die. And their act begins to crumble with the arrival of Steve Gray, an obnoxious magician similar to Criss Angel who has a show called "Mind Rape". Which are sort of what Jim Carrey's scenes are like. When he speaks, it is absolutely hilarious. But most of the time he is on screen, he is sticking a drill in his head or cutting his face open or holding his urine for a few days.
Olivia Wilde plays Jane, Burt's new assistant (they go through assistants very quickly). Burt calls her "Jessica" because Jessica was the previous assistant, and he also tries flirting with her. James Gandolfini has some hilarious moments as the owner of the casino that Burt and Anton reside at.
Each cast members gets at least one moment. The laughs range from hilarious to funny to eye-brow raising. I mainly wanted to see this because of Jim Carrey. Carrey, with the exception of "I Love You Phillip Morris", has been doing safe movies like "Mr. Popper's Penguins". I'm not saying that TIBW isn't safe. It's pretty tame, but when Carrey is on screen it feels like a whole other movie. It's nice to see him out of his comfort zone, and I'm looking forward to seeing him go even more out of his comfort zone in "Kick Ass 2". But as I said earlier, when Carrey speaks, it is wildly funny. But they don't give him enough screen time, and that's why it is sort of disappointing.
Carell is pretty funny as Burt, but he starts off un-rootable. Buscemi and Arkin have their moments, and Wilde is incredibly sexy. I liked this movie, but I think I liked the premise of it more than the actual movie itself. I wish that it could have taken its premise further than it did. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. See it, because you might have a hard time finding people funnier than Carell and Carrey.
B
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). Once they grew up and became legitimate magicians, their friendship started to die. And their act begins to crumble with the arrival of Steve Gray, an obnoxious magician similar to Criss Angel who has a show called "Mind Rape". Which are sort of what Jim Carrey's scenes are like. When he speaks, it is absolutely hilarious. But most of the time he is on screen, he is sticking a drill in his head or cutting his face open or holding his urine for a few days.
Olivia Wilde plays Jane, Burt's new assistant (they go through assistants very quickly). Burt calls her "Jessica" because Jessica was the previous assistant, and he also tries flirting with her. James Gandolfini has some hilarious moments as the owner of the casino that Burt and Anton reside at.
Each cast members gets at least one moment. The laughs range from hilarious to funny to eye-brow raising. I mainly wanted to see this because of Jim Carrey. Carrey, with the exception of "I Love You Phillip Morris", has been doing safe movies like "Mr. Popper's Penguins". I'm not saying that TIBW isn't safe. It's pretty tame, but when Carrey is on screen it feels like a whole other movie. It's nice to see him out of his comfort zone, and I'm looking forward to seeing him go even more out of his comfort zone in "Kick Ass 2". But as I said earlier, when Carrey speaks, it is wildly funny. But they don't give him enough screen time, and that's why it is sort of disappointing.
Carell is pretty funny as Burt, but he starts off un-rootable. Buscemi and Arkin have their moments, and Wilde is incredibly sexy. I liked this movie, but I think I liked the premise of it more than the actual movie itself. I wish that it could have taken its premise further than it did. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. See it, because you might have a hard time finding people funnier than Carell and Carrey.
B