3.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for profanity, sexual candor, fleeting drug content and dangerous stunts
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.15.13
Las Vegas magic acts — with their
glitzy, overwrought buffoonery — are ripe for parody, and director Don Scardino
attacks this subculture with verve, in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.
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| Having discovered that his childhood idol is living in a retirement home, Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell, left) is delighted when Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin) eventually consents to do a few tricks for the other residents. |
Armed with a witty script that
hits most of the right notes, Scardino demonstrates his own gift for
prestidigitation, by shaping a gaggle of scene-stealing camera hogs into a
well-balanced ensemble comedy troupe. That’s no small thing, when dealing with
the likes of Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi and Jim Carrey, any one of whom could
ruin a project by being too uninhibited ... and all have done so, in the past
(in Carrey’s case, rather frequently).
Not this time. Scardino keeps his
stars on point while also drawing deft supporting performances from Alan Arkin,
James Gandolfini and Olivia Wilde. The latter, in particular, demonstrates an
unexpected talent for comic timing that was nowhere to be seen in her token
hottie roles in Tron: Legacy and Cowboys & Aliens. Given her work here,
Wilde actually may have an acting career in her future.
The biggest miracle, though, is
that this film’s script manages to stay reasonably well focused — and dead-on perceptive,
as it skewers Vegas’ wretched excess — despite being a committee affair from
four writers: Jonathan M. Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Chad Kultgen and Tyler
Mitchell.
Gentlemen, my black top hat’s off
to you.
Scardino clearly learned well
from a long, Emmy Award-winning television career that has seen him helm shows
as diverse as 30 Rock, Law & Order, Ed and even the wonderful Days
and Nights of Molly Dodd. The common element: rich ensemble casts with characters
we care about.
The story opens with a brief
prologue in the early 1980s, as latchkey kid Burt (Mason Cook) celebrates a
birthday by himself, forced by his working mother’s absence to bake his own
cake (a droll and endearing touch that hints of great things to come). His one
present: a celebrity magic set that will evoke strong memories from viewers who
remember being a kid back in that era, when Marshall Brodien — as Wizzo the
Wizard —hawked his “TV Magic Kit” of “mystifying tricks” on syndicated
stations.
In this case, young Burt is
awestruck by the kit’s videotape, wherein tuxedo-garbed Rance Holloway (Arkin)
promises that magic can change one’s life. Burt, enchanted, starts pulling
scarves out of thin air; his school time antics attract the attention of the
similarly geeky — and bullied — Anton (Luke Vanek). The two become fast
friends, energized by a desire to invent newer, fresher and ever more amazing
tricks.
Flash-forward a couple of
decades, as Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi) have become
hot newcomers on the Vegas stage magic scene. Their enthusiasm and
crowd-pleasing skills draw the attention of Bally’s mogul Doug Munny
(Gandolfini), who grants them a headlining showroom.
Another 10-year leap to the
present day, and things have turned sour. Oh, sure, Burt and Anton still pack
the house, but the opulent illusions have become rote — repeated day after day,
week after week, year after year — and the staunch friendship has frayed.
Actually, it has torn to shreds,
thanks to Burt’s insufferably egotistical behavior. Having decided that he’s
the entire act — not to mention God’s gift to women — Burt has become a
grotesque parody of himself. Magic no longer matters, nor does the “sense of
wonder” that sparked his own youthful enthusiasm, so many years ago.
All this is observed with great
sadness by Jane (Wilde), a backstage assistant dragged before the crowd one
evening, to replace yet another nubile blonde unwilling to tolerate Burt’s
behavior any longer. Jane also loves magic — the proper way, hence her presence
on the staff — but Burt couldn’t care less. To him, she’s just another
potential score.
Crisis erupts with the flamboyant,
camera-hogging arrival of Steve Gray (Carrey), an arrogant, weirdly theatrical “guerilla
magician” very much in the mold of David Blaine and Criss Angel. Gray’s gory,
stunt-laden shtick is more ghastly circus sideshow than genuine magic, but he
definitely knows how to win and control a crowd. And that, to Munny, spells
money.
Wonderstone isn’t capable of
modifying his moldy act; more to the point, he rejects the need to do so. A
freak such as Steve Gray couldn’t possibly be the next best thing.
When the dust settles,
Wonderstone is alone, unemployed and living in a shabby hotel room. And
wondering how it all went wrong.
Scardino capably navigates this
delectable premise while savagely skewering its many deserving targets. Costume
designer Dayna Pink outfits Wonderstone in the hilariously tacky, chest-baring
garb with which we’ve long associated Siegfried & Roy; Burt and Anton’s
deliberately corny, story-driven act mostly wastes time while occasionally
pausing for the sort of big-big-BIG illusions beloved by Lance Burton and David
Copperfield. (The latter briefly appears in a droll cameo.)
The elevator to Burt’s penthouse
home is large enough to be the suite itself, and when Munny embraces his own
grand plan to open a new casino, he naturally names it after himself, grinning
broadly from a multi-story video screen that beckons passersby to enter.
Gray’s self-abusing, over-the-top
stunts are funny because — as Criss Angel’s fans know — they’re not all that
exaggerated; Carrey, in turn, nails the lofty attitude and weirdly egotistical
patter of such an individual. Indeed, this is by far the best performance Carrey
has given in years, and it’s nice to see him back to form.
His penetrating, ferociously
manic gaze never has been put to better use.
But the ripe satire, so well set
up and delivered, wouldn’t have nearly the bite without the genuine heart that
rides alongside. Buscemi’s Anton is a gentle guy who has put up with a lot over
the years, and can’t understand how his longtime “best friend” could treat him
so badly. Carrey’s Gray, at the other end of the spectrum, is a nasty piece of
work: a smug, vicious opportunist who smells blood in the water, and wants to
humiliate Wonderstone even more than he wants his own headlining career.
Carell swans his way through
Wonderstone’s puffed-up behavior, somehow believing that every emotional
failing — every thoughtless, self-centered act or gesture — somehow is a
virtue. Wonderstone is the one character who might be too broad at times,
notably when he and Marvelton attempt their own street stunt, but Scardino
mostly remains on the right side of that razor’s edge separating astute humor
from merely stupid slapstick.
More to the point, Carell has the
range to switch from broad overstatement to softer pathos; we’ve seen the
latter in Crazy, Stupid, Love and Dan in Real Life. Carell makes us believe
that Wonderstone is worth saving.
Arkin further spices the brew,
when a much older Rance Holloway pops up in the third act, as a resident in a
retirement home for Vegas performers. This is roughly when the story shifts
tone, blossoming into an underdog redemption saga with clearly defined heroes
and villains.
Jay Mohr is droll in a small
supporting role as “Rick the Implausible,” and Joshua Erenberg is touching as
Doug Munny’s neglected young son: a nice bit of parallel structure that
hearkens back to Burt’s boyhood self.
Holloway’s insistence on the
“purity” of magic, particularly close-up magic, obviously requires a certain
amount of same in this film. Many (most?) of the illusions are assisted by
camera trickery and CGI sweetening, but we are blessed with a few moments of
coin/card manipulation and authentic sleight-of-hand. I particularly enjoyed
the golf ball routine that Holloway and Wonderstone share with the retirement
home residents.
With so many disparate elements,
all sorts of things could have gone wrong en route to the finished film ... but
Scardino pulls it off, with a warm, funny and genuinely entertaining result.
And that, too, is quite a trick.
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