I heard for at least 9 years about THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE because when it was released back in 2013 James Gandolfini tragically died at the age of 51, and instead of being released in theaters it has been aired straight to TV in 2015 but I avoided it because of the mixed reputation it has achieved. But, last September I finally dared to sit through it and, while I didn't loved it, it had some funny moments in between that didn't made me feel guilty of watching it.
The story begins in 1982 when Albert Weinsenstein is harassed by bullies and his mom gives him a magic trick set by magician Rance Holloway for birthday. Skip a few years later and Albert (Steve Carell) has changed his name to Burt Wonderstone and attracts the attention of Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi): soon they practice magic tricks together and form a team and perform often at Bally's hotel in Las Vegas. But after a while Burt has became too overconfident and egocentric and Anton is sick of it after also having various female assistants leaving their shows. Burt and Anton casually see street magician Steve Gray's (Jim Carrey) dangerous act and they have the ispiration for closing themselves in a glass cage and hung over Las Vegas Strip, but after just a few minutes they panicky. Soon Burt falls broke and ends up working as an entertainer at an assisted living facility for former entertainers and meets Holloway (Alan Arkin), and after a while Burt and Anton patch things up and use the trick for making the audience disappear... and they succedd.
I had mixed feelings on the acting. Steve Buscemi was great as usual, but Steve Carell looked a bit too self-centered and even annoyed me in some moments. Jim Carrey, despite I am a fan, I thought that his performance was a bit too much even for his standards. Arkin, Gandolfini and the others were ok, nothing to rave about. There were some funny moments and some that fell flat, and it even looked a bit too long.
Overall, a mixed bag. It has some pros and some cons and if there was more of the pros it would have been better. As it is, it's just entertaining with a few laugh out loud moments here and there but nothing more.
