Generic scripts are as old as cinema itself. Thrillers, Westerns, War Movies, Comedies, Sci-Fi, all have a certain number of stock characters, situations and clichés around which most entries into them will gravitate. This is especially true of genre production line films which cater to a pre-existing audience who know what they like and will (presumably) always like more of exactly the same.
One such popular genre is the 'arrogant hero who has everything but doesn't appreciate it and only rediscovers it and himself when he loses it all and finds out what's really important in life' movie, that most typically American of subjects dealing as it does with fame and fortune (the American dream) losing everything you've worked for (the American nightmare) and the second chance (the American fantasy) sprinkled with a lot of cheap sentimentality and Hallmark card "friends are what really count" mushiness. The Farelly Brothers first launched this genre back in the 1990s, but it was Will Ferrell who made an entire career out of this set up, making films of ever decreasing originality and effect that so bored audiences with the exact same shtick that even he has stopped making them. Grabbing the baton though has been Steve Carell, Ferrell's scene stealing co-star from the original masterpiece "Anchorman" almost a decade ago, giving us more of the pained man-child routine. Actually Carell is a very talented actor, as he proved in his breakout film "The 40 year old Virgin", an indie movie pretending to be a sex comedy which showed he could do smart comedy. Alas he has been happy to slum it since then.
So onto "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone". This film follows exactly the template described above, except this time with Las Vegas magicians instead of News Anchors/Racing Drivers/Ice Skaters/Basketball Players/Hair stylists/Stunt men/Cops/Politicians/etc. Two things distinguish this from the run of the mill. The first is the great cast assembled here. Apart from Steve Carell we also have the great Steve Buscemi, the great Jim Carrey, the still living legend Alan Arkin, the great James Gandolfini and the hottie of the moment Olivia "that chick in tight leather in Tron Legacy" Wilde (who is also a decent actress!) The second thing that stands out is that most of them are playing against their established type. Carell, best known for the humble everyman character, here plays a Ferell-esque swinging dick super ego hiding a wounded man child inside, which is a strange fit for him to say the least. As his lifelong friend and magic partner Buscemi, ubiquitous in the 90s playing mainly sleazy, criminal characters with his aggressive motor mouth style, here plays a very humble, passive person who is possibly a hermaphrodite to boot, and again it is strange. Gandolfini plays the Hotel chain boss who holds their fates in his hands, but he is basically a nice guy, not the Mafioso at all. Carrey, playing the Criss Angel-Steve O style dangerous stunt extreme modern magician, is part old school Carrey, part imitation. His character is an antagonist who gets little actual screen time and whose horrific stunts are the main reason it carries an R/15 certificate. Arkin, who it is a pleasure to see so active again, plays the old magician who first convinced Carell and Buscemi to take up magic, and who, as is the way of these films, teaches them to rediscover the spark inside. Arkin plays above the usual stereotype and grabs the film whenever he is in it and makes us take notice. Wilde alas is stuck with the "spunky sort of feminist but at the end of the day just a romantic trophy for the hero" role, and does the best she can with so few options.
Considering the genre, the film is directed quite competently by Don Scardino, with the magic tricks orchestrated by legendary David Copperfield, who must be quite happy to play along with the film's message that "good old fashioned disappearing jumbo jet magic is always better than stupid publicity seeking new boys like David Blaine and Criss Angel". This however is despite it being equivalent to "The Artist" championing silent movies as being better than sound and everyone going back to them instead of showing what happens when one ego driven star vainly tries to stop inevitable progress to his cost. It's a massive sentimental unreality, topping other smaller unrealities like a multi-millionaire showman being reduced to instant penury and forced to get a job in a supermarket overnight, or the incredibly stupid, dangerous and utterly immoral final "trick" that Burt and Anton use to earn their happy ending, which would most likely put them all in jail at least in the real world.
You know what you are getting when you walk in the door, but the good cast, competent director and high production values make it watchable. The film, like many of its genre, is also very warm spirited and mushily sentimental at heart, not to mention rather child-like (if not outright childish) but peppers it with adult material to create laughs which otherwise wouldn't be there.
Cast and crew appropriately create the illusion of a better film, and you could do worse if you really want to watch a movie like this.
One such popular genre is the 'arrogant hero who has everything but doesn't appreciate it and only rediscovers it and himself when he loses it all and finds out what's really important in life' movie, that most typically American of subjects dealing as it does with fame and fortune (the American dream) losing everything you've worked for (the American nightmare) and the second chance (the American fantasy) sprinkled with a lot of cheap sentimentality and Hallmark card "friends are what really count" mushiness. The Farelly Brothers first launched this genre back in the 1990s, but it was Will Ferrell who made an entire career out of this set up, making films of ever decreasing originality and effect that so bored audiences with the exact same shtick that even he has stopped making them. Grabbing the baton though has been Steve Carell, Ferrell's scene stealing co-star from the original masterpiece "Anchorman" almost a decade ago, giving us more of the pained man-child routine. Actually Carell is a very talented actor, as he proved in his breakout film "The 40 year old Virgin", an indie movie pretending to be a sex comedy which showed he could do smart comedy. Alas he has been happy to slum it since then.
So onto "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone". This film follows exactly the template described above, except this time with Las Vegas magicians instead of News Anchors/Racing Drivers/Ice Skaters/Basketball Players/Hair stylists/Stunt men/Cops/Politicians/etc. Two things distinguish this from the run of the mill. The first is the great cast assembled here. Apart from Steve Carell we also have the great Steve Buscemi, the great Jim Carrey, the still living legend Alan Arkin, the great James Gandolfini and the hottie of the moment Olivia "that chick in tight leather in Tron Legacy" Wilde (who is also a decent actress!) The second thing that stands out is that most of them are playing against their established type. Carell, best known for the humble everyman character, here plays a Ferell-esque swinging dick super ego hiding a wounded man child inside, which is a strange fit for him to say the least. As his lifelong friend and magic partner Buscemi, ubiquitous in the 90s playing mainly sleazy, criminal characters with his aggressive motor mouth style, here plays a very humble, passive person who is possibly a hermaphrodite to boot, and again it is strange. Gandolfini plays the Hotel chain boss who holds their fates in his hands, but he is basically a nice guy, not the Mafioso at all. Carrey, playing the Criss Angel-Steve O style dangerous stunt extreme modern magician, is part old school Carrey, part imitation. His character is an antagonist who gets little actual screen time and whose horrific stunts are the main reason it carries an R/15 certificate. Arkin, who it is a pleasure to see so active again, plays the old magician who first convinced Carell and Buscemi to take up magic, and who, as is the way of these films, teaches them to rediscover the spark inside. Arkin plays above the usual stereotype and grabs the film whenever he is in it and makes us take notice. Wilde alas is stuck with the "spunky sort of feminist but at the end of the day just a romantic trophy for the hero" role, and does the best she can with so few options.
Considering the genre, the film is directed quite competently by Don Scardino, with the magic tricks orchestrated by legendary David Copperfield, who must be quite happy to play along with the film's message that "good old fashioned disappearing jumbo jet magic is always better than stupid publicity seeking new boys like David Blaine and Criss Angel". This however is despite it being equivalent to "The Artist" championing silent movies as being better than sound and everyone going back to them instead of showing what happens when one ego driven star vainly tries to stop inevitable progress to his cost. It's a massive sentimental unreality, topping other smaller unrealities like a multi-millionaire showman being reduced to instant penury and forced to get a job in a supermarket overnight, or the incredibly stupid, dangerous and utterly immoral final "trick" that Burt and Anton use to earn their happy ending, which would most likely put them all in jail at least in the real world.
You know what you are getting when you walk in the door, but the good cast, competent director and high production values make it watchable. The film, like many of its genre, is also very warm spirited and mushily sentimental at heart, not to mention rather child-like (if not outright childish) but peppers it with adult material to create laughs which otherwise wouldn't be there.
Cast and crew appropriately create the illusion of a better film, and you could do worse if you really want to watch a movie like this.