The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (4 Stars)

As a child Albert Weinselstein was bullied. Nobody liked him. On his tenth birthday his mother bought him a magic kit, featuring a promotional videotape by the stage magician Rance Holloway. One of the first things Rance said was that everyone loves magicians, so Burt's future career path was fixed. He wanted to be loved and admired. While practising magic tricks in school he attracted the attention of a sickly boy called Anthony Mertz, also an outsider. They became friends and partners in magic.

15 years later they're stage magicians. They're given an exclusive contract to work at Bally's Casino in Las Vegas. As Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton they become the world's most famous magicians.

But all isn't good beneath the surface. Burt has become arrogant. He has a string of one-night stands with women he meets at his shows, and he mistreats the people he works with, including his old friend Anton.

Times are changing. After 10 years of performing the same tricks at Bally's, the audiences start to dwindle. People prefer to watch an amateur magician called Steve Gray, who does spectacular stunts on the streets of Las Vegas that he broadcasts online as webisodes.

Burt and Anton's boss, the casino owner Doug Munny, suggests that they do new tricks that are more like Steve's. They should try to appeal to younger audiences. Their attempts to change their style fail. They split up and lose their contract at Bally's.

This is a very good film that shows what really happens in the glitzy world of Las Vegas. Steve Carrell is appropriately shallow as Burt Wonderstone, and Jim Carrey has manic brilliance as a street magician, while James Gandolfini plays himself, charming and charismatic. We know that he must be ruthless and evil as a millionaire businessman, but his bad qualities are well hidden.

After watching the film I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Something prevents it winning my top rating. After thinking about it over a coffee I have the answer. The comedy elements in the film are inappropriate. Overall the film isn't a comedy, but comic moments are intermittently thrown into the film to make the audience laugh. The film would have been more effective if the comedy had been cut. The pathos and the tragedy would have been more powerful without the jokes.

Nevertheless, the film didn't deserve to be a box office failure. I recommend that you watch it and leave a comment to tell me what you think.

Success Rate:  - 1.2

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