The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

What's most incredible about this lame comedy is the waste of inherent talent. Superstar Las Vegas illusionists Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) have been friends since childhood when—as nerdy outcasts—they bonded over their love of magic. As partners, the pair have reached the pinnacle of their profession but now their act is getting stale. Cable TV entertainers like Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), who specializes in gruesome and dangerous endurance stunts, are siphoning off their audience. Predictably, Burt and Anton are bored and getting on each other's nerves, so they split and go their separate ways. Smug, arrogant, misogynistic Burt eventually realizes how nasty he's become, and hapless Anton discovers that, while he's been graciously entertaining the Third World poor, they'd much rather have food and clean water. So Burt and Anton reconcile and plan an astounding comeback. Not that anyone much cares. Since the four credited screenwriters failed to create a cohesive story with empathetic characters, there is little that TV-sitcom director Don Scardino can do to raise Burt and Anton above the level of caricatures. Olivia Wilde is winsome as their long-suffering, misunderstood stage assistant; James Gandolfini is gruff and growly as a Vegas casino entrepreneur; and Alan Arkin is masterful as Burt's reclusive idol/mentor. But it is uninhibited Carrey who steals the show with his ferocious, unabashed masochism. Too bad the duo at the tale's center can't match the other characters' appeal. An optional purchase. (S. Granger)