For those of us who can’t afford to go to the movies, or just chose not to because of how expensive it is, I have decided to review the films that are On Demand (Verizon Fios is my provider) for the readers of Hashtag Studios. That way, when you sit down at home and order a movie, you know what you’re paying for.
Earlier today, I watched The Incredible Burt Wonderstone starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey.
The film starts out during Burt’s childhood (specifically, on his birthday). Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) is picked on a lot by his classmates and has a mother that works all of the time. For his birthday, he has to make his own cake and open up his present from his mother by himself. His frown is turned upside down, however, when the wrapping paper reveals a magic kit. He immediately starts practicing. When he performs a magic trick at school, he impresses a kid named Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) and the two become partners and eventually become professional magicians. They book a gig at Bally’s Casino (a hotel located in Las Vegas) and have that job for ten years, until their friendship starts to fizzle out.
The problem with the beginning of the film is that it’s just filler; Burt’s mother and the other kids aren’t mentioned in any other part of the film. It’s like the filmmakers just forgot about these characters. The only significant part in the beginning is that Burt gets the magic kit. The film could’ve just as easily started with Burt opening his present at his house and learning how to do magic.
Jim Carrey’s character (Steve Gray) is obviously a parody of Chris Angel; instead of Chris Angel: Mind Freak., Jim Carrey is Steve Gray: Mind Fucker. As a fan of Chris Angel: Mind Freak, I found this part to be entertaining. Throughout the film, Steve Gray did the most disgusting “magic” tricks and the audience bought it. However, Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvin didn’t, and the result was a cliche rivalry between the magicians.
The only amusing part was Jim Carrey. The film mainly focused on Burt Wonderstone getting back in touch with why he wanted to do magic in the first place, making this film more of a dramedy, rather than a comedy. As a result, this film had great character development, but very little comedy.