There are some funny bits and characters around the edges of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, but its core is empty of humor. In fact, this purported satire of Las Vegas magicians is a three-void circus: the script, the central character and the main performance.
The committee-written screenplay begins with the premise that, 20 years after the illusion-busting Penn and Teller set up in Vegas, there could still be a market for a pair of old-school tricksters who call themselves Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton.
Friends since childhood, Burt (Steve Carell) and Anton (Steve Buscemi) have become offstage enemies. Both’s biggest nemesis is Burt himself, a preening show-biz phony who refuses to update the duo’s act. He’s more interested in plundering the show’s young female fans, one of whom is selected every night to check out Burt’s bed, “the biggest in Vegas.”
Suddenly, the magical twosome’s complacency is challenged by street performer Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), a cross between Criss Angel and Sid Vicious. Grey’s act involves cutting and burning himself, but he does more extreme damage to the careers of Burt and Anton. They lose their longtime gig at the casino hotel run by the jovially soulless Doug Munny (James Gandolfini), whose surname rhymes with — oh, you got that one, huh?
After bungling a desperate attempt at turning edgier, Burt and Anton embark on separate voyages of self-discovery. The story concentrates on Burt, who alienates — again and again and again — the duo’s former stage manager, Jane. Played by Olivia Wilde, loves-him/loves-him-not Jane is an engaging presence, but one with a character arc shaped like a Slinky.