What happened to Steve Carell? He set the comedy world on fire with his naive-fool shtick in The Office and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, sweetening his performances with a lovely, disarming warmth. The characters he played were occasionally dolts, to be sure, but their intentions were good -- just a bit misplaced. They seemed to be whole people, blemishes and all, an uncomfortable reflection of the regrettable instincts we can all recognize in day-to-day life. And, most important, they were utterly charming despite their flaws.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone has fits and starts of this charm, but sadly, those moments are few and far between, and rarely involve the titular character: a pompous, chintzy, velvet-clad magician who's been performing in Las Vegas for more than a decade. Carell steps into familiar territory as Wonderstone, another oblivious character who seemingly should match well with his comic talents. This time, however, the character is more a jerk than a fool -- and as anyone who remembers the earliest days of Michael Scott can attest, Carell doesn't play the former nearly as well as he plays the latter.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Wonderstone, as we're shown in the opening sequence, was once a lonely child named Albert. He fell in love with magic after his absentee mother gave him a magician's kit (with instructional VHS included) for his birthday. Under the pre-recorded guidance of legendary magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin) -- and a convenient, snappy montage -- we fly through the decades, landing in the midst of a sell-out show in Vegas. Wonderstone's gaudy, tired act is built around his so-called "magical friendship" with stage partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi), although off-stage, he is anything but pleasant to his ex-friend and closest ally. Magic has become a rote exercise to him, a mechanical song-and-dance number with magic sprinkled in between. His cushy gig is threatened after a street performer named Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) -- think a more obnoxious Criss Angel -- starts to wow audiences with his "edgy" magic. To rebuild his career, Wonderstone will have to rekindle the awe and respect he held for magic as a child.
This all sounds familiar, right? The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is little more than a retread of Zoolander or Anchorman, two wildly successful comedies that effectively popularized this formula a decade ago. There's nothing wrong with aping, but any movie that aims to do so must put the charm of its cast up front and center. Carell's charisma is buried under a bloated ego and absolute lack of self-awareness, muting the many jokes made at his expense. If he's not aware he's a fool, it's simply not as funny.
Like any mediocre comedy, there are some gags that just work too well to be written off. Carell and Buscemi throw themselves into their characters' ridiculous, hammy onstage patter and variety-show costumery. (After he splits from Marvelton, Wonderstone tries to do the two-man act on his own.) Olivia Wilde earns a few early chuckles as Jane, a magician's assistant who aspires to have her own act. An out-of-nowhere sex scene has the best gag in the whole movie, even if it throws off the pace of the narrative.
THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE
Starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey Rated PG-13 100 minutes Opens Friday Area theaters
That's the rub of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: Very rarely is the movie funny, charming and sensible at the same time. Even while some jokes draw out a subdued giggle, director Don Scardino never quite manages to hit the absurd tone he's reaching for. The comedy is sensationalist more than anything else. Gray's show is tastelessly called "Brain Rapist" -- yes, that's the entire gag -- while several of the movie's jokes are made at the expense of its weakest and most vulnerable characters. The result is a comedy that isn't quite as funny as it should be, stocked with actors we know to be much funnier than they are here.
Which brings us back to Carell. He comes close to carrying this comedy through its rough patches, but in the end, he can't quite manage the feat. Burt Wonderstone is a pampered, out-of-touch jerk. He should be a clueless fool. There's a subtle difference between the two, and Carell has magnificently tiptoed along the edge of both for years. That he can't do it here, again, is a disappointment.
Maybe they should've called it The Not-Quite-Credible Burt Wonderstone.
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