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.
