“Trying my damnest to get at least one movie in per week while I’m in show mode. Originally aimed for two today, but then was supposta have an unofficial rehearsal that then got last minute cancelled. I tried making a last minute double, but you know what? I really haven’t had much “”home”” time, or at least home time that wasn’t spent choreographing. And hey, that means I get to blog today’s movie right away!
Sigh. It seems like every comedic actor’s career tends to come to this inevitable point. They have a certain schtick or character type or something signature. They play that so much that it eventually seems like they’re just putting the same idea in a new setting. And by setting, I mean the entire subculture of the next movie’s character. We saw this happen to Will Ferrell. If not for different sports, could you really tell the difference between Blades of Glory, Semi Pro, or Talladega Nights? Ben Stiller. Vince Vaughn. Jim Carey. They’ve all been there. Looks like Steve Carrell is going down that same route.
Although, to be fair, for a good section of the film, he was acting against type. Instead of being the loveable schlub he typically plays thoughout the film, he did spend a good half of it as a total d-bag. I didn’t like it at first because, well frankly, there’s a reason why those schlubs are so loveable. But eventually I did come to like that side of him just for the sake of seeing a different side of Carrell. He did eventually fall back into his usual type, which certainly fit him better. Unfortunately there really just wasn’t a whole lot to the film.
For not the first time this year, things did pick up a bit once Alan Arkin was on screen. He may be a Hollywood veteran, but her still manages to bring a freshness that all these actors half his age can’t manage. Also nice seeing Jim Carey back to full folly form as the rival magician who may or may not have been channelling some Criss Angel. Carey has a tendancy to be way over the top, but I think he found the right balance here.
The story was pretty bland. The comedy kinda phoned in. I do love magic, but mostly because I actually enjoy trying to solve the puzzle. I want to figure out how it’s done. Kinda takes some of the fun out of it when half the time the answer is computers or movie magic. But yeah, nothing that really wowed me in this film. Not a bad time, but quickly forgettable I’d wager.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone – \m/ \m/