The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)
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Critics Consensus: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone serves up some goofy laughs, but given its outrageous conceit, it's surprisingly safe and predictable.
Critics Consensus: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone serves up some goofy laughs, but given its outrageous conceit, it's surprisingly safe and predictable.
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Superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerilla street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale. But there's still … More- Rating:
- PG-13 (for sexual content, dangerous stunts, a drug-related incident and language)
- Genre:
- Comedy
- Directed By:
- Don Scardino
- Written By:
- Jason Reitman , Jonathan Goldstein , John Francis Daley , Chad Kultgen , Tyler Mitchell
- In Theaters:
- Mar 15, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Jun 25, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $22.5M
Cast
-
Steve Carell
as Burt Wonderstone -
Steve Buscemi
as Anton Marvelton -
Olivia Wilde
as Jane -
Jim Carrey
as Steve Gray -
James Gandolfini
as Doug Munny -
Alan Arkin
as Rance Holloway
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– Rotten Tomatoes
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Critic Reviews for The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
All Critics (182) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (117) | DVD (1)
Since every funny moment here involves cynicism, arrogance, heartlessness, and self-destruction, you never believe the movie when it's telling you how nice and contrite these characters are.
The true comeback story in this fictional comeback story doesn't belong to a character named Burt Wonderstone, but to an actor named Jim Carrey.
This comedy about a magician who must hit bottom before rising again to the wonder of his beloved craft pulls plenty of sweet moments and a slew of laughs out of a story that might have been thin air.
This may be the kind of semi-bad, semi-inspired comedy that could not only stand repeated viewings but perhaps improve with them.
A generic, fitfully funny mainstream comedy that doesn't nearly get the best from its name-brand players but doesn't qualify as a desecration, either.
A veritable festival of bad toupees and repeated gags that just lie there, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' runs a bit more than an hour and a half but seems much longer - like it had been edited down at the last minute.
...a serious disappointment that squanders its setup and talented cast...
A painfully tedious and unpleasant comedy completely void of any laughs.
Don Scardino's The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a middling and extremely dated comedy that only gets by because of Jim Carrey's over-the-top performance.
A slow, humdrum comedy that would have worked better as a 10-minute sketch than a feature film.
As a character, Burt Wonderstone runs counter to Steve Carell's inherent sweetness. In Carell's hands, Burt comes off as a 50-calorie Ron Burgundy. When he tightens his vocal cords to hit Ferrell's register, the strain is as visible as it is audible.
If the rest of the movie had put much thought into its characters as it did into that final scene, we'd have really had something.
Hot properties John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) penned the script, and while it's another effort which lacks depth and real emotional involvement, they're certainly proving themselves as dependable, if not exceptional, talents.
You know a director is in trouble when you can barely keep your eyes open to ogle a scantily clad Olivia Wilde.
Carrey is the movie's ace up its sleeve. He's at his frighteningly manic best. If the Academy ever considered awards for comedies released in March, Carrey certainly deserves one.
Normally, this type of comedy would be a fun, forgettable ride. But these days, it feels like a welcomed wonder.
Everything that happens after it lets its abrasive character off the hook is completely predictable, but movies with this kind of pervasive silliness don't exist for their unpredictable plot lines-in fact they rely on predictability.
Magic-less.
4 good jokes do not a good comedy feature film make.
The cast members can't elevate this subpar material, although they do showcase an impressive array of sequined costumes and crazy wigs.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the whole thing is that you really want to like the movie.
A sweet film with a message of never giving up on your dreams, "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" gets by on the magic of a game cast.
This lame comedy lacks anything resembling amusement and magic - until the final credits which involve a sight gag.
Conjures up some laughs, if nothing else
Now you see it, and now you wish you really hadn't.
Audience Reviews for The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Super Reviewer
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone isn't a great film, it is though, a nice film. The idea is good, although the over the top Magician act is a little overdone, but it is the actors who make it what it is. I like each actor involved and I liked their characters. It's pretty formulaic but it's a formula that works. For now anyway, a new formula is needed sharpish.
MoreSuper Reviewer
This movie succeeds at being the most laugh-less comedy movie I've seen in a while. How do you get together Steve Carrell, Jim Carrey and Steve Buscemi and squander it so badly? The story is an okay setup for comedy but fails. The plot was just way too poorly constructed too create any actual interest in what's going on. It's just so stupid. Things in the past have proven that magician jokes can be funny (Arrested Development!). It's like they wrote a script and never edited past the first draft. None of the characters go through any real change unless the plot demands it. We learn absolutely nothing about Jim Carrey's character except he does some crazy stunts! (Oh man, a Criss Angel parody! How relevant!). But the worst part of all is the end. So many horrifying implications are made based off of the end. Who ever green lit that ending probably doesn't have much oxygen going to his brain. Overall- The best thing I could say about this movie is that it had potential. So it took that potential and made it disappear. Where they thought they were going with this one I'll never know. Letter Grade: D
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Super Reviewer
3 3/4's...Definitely for fans of Jim Carrey, and Steve Carell, of which I am. Not an Oscar winner, just pure silly enjoyment. It took a little while to get going, but once it did...well...big laughs ensued. Alan Arkin was really enjoyable in this, also...
MoreSuper Reviewer
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Quotes
- Jane:
- Is every woman who doesn't sleep with you a lesbian?
- Burt Wonderstone:
- No, I've slept with plenty of lesbians.
- Burt Wonderstone:
- Steve Gray Just mumbles and cuts himself. Anyone can do that! I have a niece that does that!
- Burt Wonderstone:
- He put a dog in my pants. He put a live dog in my pants. No one's ever done that to me before!
- Burt Wonderstone:
- I quit the business, I don't read the trades, and I'm late for my coma.
- Steve Gray:
- Tada!
- Burt Wonderstone:
- Ow! I hit my knee on your face!
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