Now You See Me

            Now You See Me was on my radar for several months.  I like magic because I like being entertained.  Burt Wonderstone didn't do much for me because it was kind of a mess, albeit a harmless one.  So I have not been truly mesmerized by a 'magic movie' since The Prestige.  I was hoping this weekend would shake that up a bit, but alas I still have not been mesmerized by a magic movie since The Prestige.

           

            On to the review!

            The problem with Now You See Me is not in its plot or actors.  Both aspects may be a bit underwhelming but there's nothing offensive there.  No, my biggest problem is the cinematography.  You see, when I watch a movie I do not expect to be nauseated.  Neither The Blair Witch Project nor the Bourne films bothered me at all, yet I left the theater on Friday with a headache and an angry stomach.  My theory is that directors of photography Mitchell Amundsen and Larry Fong are terrible people. 

            No, not really.  What they are, however, are directors of action.  Just look at their background.  300, Sucker Punch, Watchmen, Pearl Harbor, The Bourne Supremacy.  Those are action-packed films that also have dizzying camera effects.  Unfortunately this time they went overboard.  When the camera should sit still, it goes crazy.  When it could get away with being crazy, it sits still.  Oddly enough, the only time the cameras calm the fuck down is during portions of the magic act.  Otherwise they are everywhere.  I'm pretty sure some of the fight scenes were filmed by some dude wearing those little glasses cameras people use on prank TV shows.

            In short, the camera work is a sloppy, distracting mess.  Which is a real shame, because the movie really isn't all that bad.  Basically, four magicians team up out of nowhere and start putting on ridiculous shows, during which laws may or may not be broken.  This of course attracts the attention of the FBI, who send Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol Agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) to interrogate the 'Four Horsemen'.

            If you have seen the trailers, you already know that the Four Horsemen are Jesse Eisenberg as The Lover, J. Daniel Atlas, Woody Harrelson as The Hermit, Merritt McKinney, Isla Fisher as The Priestess, Henley Reeves and Dave Franco as Death, Jack Wilder.  Individually they are all uniquely talented magicians, but together they seem to be an unstoppable force that is always several steps ahead of any and every Federal Agency that tries to stop them.

            Throw in Morgan Freeman as a magician who lives to expose other's magic tricks and Michael Caine as the rich financial backer of the Four Horsemen, and you've got yourself an amazing cast.  To me, this more than makes up for the slightly muddled plot.  Yes, there are so many damn people on screen that nobody really gets fleshed out, but it was nice to have a film where you really won't know who the bad guys are until you get to the end...or until you figure it out. 

            That's the other slight problem I had.  While the film does a fine job of not telegraphing who is what when how and why, there are enough not-so-subtle clues that will allow you to figure out the ending with a good 30 minutes left in the film's 115 minute run-time.

            So there you have it.  A movie that is nowhere as good as it could have been and certainly not as good as it should have been.  The characters are interesting if not deep and the plot is just good enough to keep you entertained, but it's nothing special.  Oh yeah, and if you do see it, sit in the very back of the theater or you might throw up.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

            A special hello and congratulations to my friend Doug for his new position as a film critic for Next Projection!  Even though it looks like we'll occasionally be reviewing the same movies, I look forward to reading his stuff and seeing his take on things.  Do yourself a favor and check him out at nextprojection.com and follow him on twitter (@basementnoise).  In fact, I'm looking forward to reading his review of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone just as soon as I actually, ummm, write mine.

On to the review!

            First, let's get this out of the way.  The cast of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is fun, talented and up for anything.  It looks like everyone had a really good time making the movie and they truly believed they were making, in terms of popularity, a comedic version of The Prestige.

            So it is with a heavy heart that I must state that they did not, in fact, make the sort of comedic magic movie that people will want to watch over and over, marveling at new details and wondrous spectacle.  What they did make was a stilted, sometimes hilarious and sometimes painfully unfunny film.

            Steve Carell stars as Burt Wonderstone, a world-famous magician who performs at Bally's Las Vegas every night with his partner and best friend, Anton Marvelton (Steve Buschemi).  He is so famous, in fact, that Burt and Anton have been performing the exact same damn show for a decade now and still sell out nightly.  He's rich, he's famous, he can get any girl he wants.  Also, he's a tremendous douchebag.

            After a decade of performing the same act thousands of times, fame has gone to his head and Burt is now completely insufferable.  He's such a dick, in fact, that the female assistants have even been known to quit mid-show. 

            We even get to witness just such a show, where their bickering and Burt's general self-centeredness leads current assistant Nicole to quit.  Everyone working backstage is so inured to this action that they just shrug, grab someone else, (stage-hand Jane, played by Olivia Wilde) dress her up and shove her out onto the stage.

            But it's not enough that Burt is flailing around in life and driving away his one and only friend.  He now has competition from a new, 'wave of the future' magician named Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) who is basically a not-so-subtle stand-in for 'Mindfreak' Chriss Angel.  Instead of pure magic tricks, Steve wows audiences with acts of daring and sheer stupidity, such as holding his urine for 12 days or sleeping on red hot coals.

            Things quickly go downhill from there, with Burt finding himself out of a job and without his only friend.  Can our self-centered hero rekindle his love of magic?  Can he stop being a dick to Jane?  Can anyone stop Steve Grey?

            I'm sure you already know the answers, but is it worth watching to find out just how it all happens?

            Well, yes and no.

            Again, the cast is terrific.  Steve Carell plays his spoiled, pampered, rich douchebag character flawlessly.  Steve Buscemi is genuinely fun as the awkward, endearing, slightly-clueless friend.  Olivia Wilde is fun and funny and has more than enough personality to help with the redemption arc.  Both James Gandolfini and Alan Arkin are great as the owner of Bally's and the  magician who inspired Burt, respectively.

            The problem comes down to the scenes and the pacing.  There is far, far too much introduction in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.  Not only do we have to sit through his childhood years of falling in love with magic, we then have to watch several minutes of the duo's discovery and fame.  When we finally get to 'here and now,' many of the scenes just don't quite know when to end.  Don't get me wrong, there are genuinely funny moments here.  When we're first introduced to Steve Gray, we get to see a fantastic take on the 'extreme' magic that Chriss Angel is known for.  I laughed and giggled at several parts of the film.

            The problem is, for every really good belly laugh, there was something that made me groan in embarrassment or want to look away from the screen altogether.  It felt as if the filmmakers of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone were really reaching to fill all 100 minutes.  I think they had a great, tight, 80-minute film and realized that 80 minutes is just not enough, so they were forced to pad it out with a few too many unnecessary scenes.

            While there is absolutely nothing wrong with The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, it just feels unwieldy.  You will most likely not be disappointed if you go see it in theaters, but I personally feel that this would work much better as a rental.  You won't fell ripped off from spending one or two dollars instead of ten.

            Check it out if you like magic and special effects and don't mind being horribly embarrassed once or twice.  It certainly is not The Prestige of comedies, but it isn't a failure of a film either.