Steve Carell as a preening, egotistical Vegas performer? Jim Carrey as his Criss Angel-spoofing competition? Olivia Wilde? Massive wigs? The trailer for **The Incredible Burt ****Wonderstone **promises all this and more.
In this new comedy, directed by 30 Rock veteran Don Scardino, Carrel plays Burt, one half of a Siegfried and Roy-style magic act alongside partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). When their old school shtick starts to lose business, casino owner Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) orders them to shake things up or face total irrelevancy.
Add to that the simmering hatred between the pair and increasing competition from Carrey’s OTT street rat show, all of which leads to Burt trying something new – an endurance trick in a glass case high above the Vegas strip that ends in humiliation and shame.
But then Burt discovers his old magical inspiration, Alan Arkin’s Rance Holloway, in an old folks’ home, and finds his love of magic surfacing once more. Can he make things right Anton and reclaim his place as the king of Vegas illusions? And will he win back the support of Olivia Wilde’s rookie performer?
From the looks of this, Burt Wonderstone is giving everyone involved the chance to break out of their usual patterns a little. Old Bruce Almighty sparring partners Carell and Carrey in particular get to swap styles, with Carell the foppish jerk and Carrey the low key nutball.
Boasting a script by Horrible Bosses team John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Burt will appear in a puff of cine-smoke on March 15.