In magical spirit of the season, I bring you a trailer about magic — more specifically, magicians — even more specifically, magicians whose career is fading fast and must fight to prove their relevance by competing with an ass played by Jim Carrey.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is the tale of the wonderfully named Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi), famous magicians who have been slugging it out in the Vegas trenches of professional prestidigitation (think Siegfried & Roy). The two long-time partners split up after an illusion goes awry.
Soon, there's a new flavor in illusion on the Strip, Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), an aphorism-spouting amalgam of David Blaine and Criss Angel who traffics in Blaine's style of stunt magic. (Editor's note: Can hanging upside down or being encased in ice really be called magic?) Anyway, Burt decides to get the act back together to prove his style of magic is the superior form of professional trickery.
Feeling a little like something that would emerge from the Judd Apatow machine, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone comes to us from director Don Scardino, a small-screen veteran from way back. The flick was written by John Francis Daley (Sam Weir on Freaks and Geeks) and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses and scads of TV work as well), though director Jason Reitman did some rewrites. It appears to be a fairly broad comedy, but looks like it might have some nice character moments throughout (likely courtesy of Reitman's tweaks).
The cast is filled out with some great actors, including Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini, so maybe this will be something to look forward to next spring when it hits theaters.
Happy holidays from Planet Fury! Oh, and by the way, is THIS your card?
I want to see this movie because Jay Mohrsss is in it.