The Plot
Remember the first time that you saw a magic trick as a kid and was grandly amazed? That is the main premise for this movie.
This movie is about best-friends Burt Wonderstone/Albert Wunderstein (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). They met as kids both mesmerized by magic and both were losers at school. A few years later, they turned their love of magic to a full-time career, complete with their own theater in Las Vegas. However, they are no longer best-friends. Thanks in part to the callousness of Burt, who has turned numb inside with all the fame and because they have being doing the same routine for many years, for the patrons of their magic show.
Cue in, street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) who entertains people with his dangerous performances reminiscent of Criss Angel. This in turn causes a sudden drop in the ticket sales for the magic show of Burt and Anton. They then hatch out a plan to liven up their performance by doing a street act where they will be locked inside a transparent plastic box for an entire week while its suspended a few feet above the ground.
However, this performance caused a major rift between the two that ended up with Anton getting hospitalized and ending their partnership as well. All alone, Burt tried to go on with the show without Anton however it was an utter failure and his employer Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) decided to let him go.
After a conversation with his lawyer, Burt found out that he was not able to save anything because of his lavish lifestyle and was in fact broke.
He was kicked out of his hotel room and was forced to ask for help from his former assistant Jane (Olivia Wilde), whom he always calls as Nicole. Reluctantly, Jane helps him out. Burt was able to find work at a Nursing Home. Inside the assisted-living facility he finds out that one of the residents there was Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin), a famous magician that inspired Burt to become a magician when he was younger.
Doug invited Burt to be the magician for his kid's birthday party, Burt accepted. During the party they found out that Doug is offering a five-year magic show contract for his new casino that he will be opening. In the party, Steve Gray was also present and did everything he can to upstage Burt during his magic show. Jane, who became Steve Gray's assistant was appalled and decided to resign from her job. This sparked the idea to join up with Anton so that they could win the contract which will be decided by a talent show. Anton and Burt decided to do a trick that they thought of years ago, The Disappearing Audience.
At the night of the talent show, Steve Gray's stunt goes terribly awry after he drills into his skull and became mentally ill after. Burt and Anton does the trick with the help of sleeping gas that they have concocted. The audience gave a standing ovation and Doug decided to give to Burt and Anton the five-year contract.
Over-all
If you are after a movie with a storyline that will leave you guessing, then this certainly is not for you. If you are after a few laughs and would like to turn your brain off for a while, then this certainly is for you. The plot is predictable, and there are a lot of slapstick, raunchy humor, that will inspire a lot of laughs. If you have watched Anchorman before then this will certainly remind you of that. Would recommend it for guy friends and young adults.
Popcorns, anyone?
3.5 out of 5 popcorns, because it made me laugh so hard. Would recommend for everyone to just wait for it when the DVD comes out, so that you can watch it together with your friends.
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