Movie Review: "Burt Wonderstone" Underuses Its Stars

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Director: Don Scardino
Cast: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, and Jim Carrey.
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug-related incident and language.

This movie had a lot going for it: a great comedic cast, a premise depicting outlandish magicians, the minds of 30 Rock behind the camera, and Jim Carrey as an edgy rock and roll rival magician. There are some humorous moments, but there's not much that will have your cheeks hurting from laughter. This is mostly due to the underusage of nearly the entire casts' talents.


Steve Carell is Burt Wonderstone, a famous magician who has forgotten why he loved magic, and has become obsessed with his own image and money. His long-time partner and childhood friend, played by Steve Buscemi, has only become part of the act in the eyes of Burt. The two rarely see each other off stage. Enter Jim Carrey as a Chris Angel type magician who uses stomach-churning acts to draw a crowd. Burt loses his headlining act at a major casino because his show has been the same for 10 years and lacks the originality that Jim Carrey has brought to the Vegas strip. Burt must now hit rock bottom and remember why he first got into magic and make a comeback.

Steve Carell is one of my favorite current comedic actors. He is adequate in this role, but never quite reaches his potential. It's as if he is on a leash and never fully let off of it. Steve Buscemi is known for both his dramatic roles and his goofy ones, many of which are in Adam Sandler movies. The man can be really funny. Here, he's not. He is merely taking up space and filling a role. His character is poorly written and even a great actor like Buscemi is not allowed by the filmmakers to bring him to life. Jim Carrey is the bright spot in the film. Sadly, he only shows up every twenty minutes or so and is usually gone again within five minutes. I really wish the story would have focused more on the rivalry between Carell and Carrey. You can see the potential chemistry between the two actors, but it never quite comes to fruition.

Bottom line, the movie meddles around in mediocrity instead of rising to hilarity. It is worth a few laughs that are possibly worth a Redbox price, but not an admission ticket.

RATING:  C