Hollywood comedies out this week
I’M a fan of Steve Buscemi who is an amazing character actor—I enjoyed his performances in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Desperado, Escape from LA, Ghost
World and Big Fish. Lately he’s managed to land the lead in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire (a role for which he won a Golden Globe) while also appearing on 30 Rock.
I thought I’d enjoy seeing Steve playing a magician in a big screen comedy, a departure from the normally serious politician slash gangster, Nucky Thompson who he plays on Boardwalk Empire.
The Incredible Burt Wunderstone also stars big name comedians Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Considering the caliber of the talent, I was expecting a script that would match it. Unfortunately, it all ends up less than incredible—but at least manages to be cute.
Carell and Buscemi play the magical duo of Burt Wunderstone and Anton Marvelton. Former classmates and best friends, their friendship now remains all for show—until their act is threatened by newcomer Steve Gray (Carrey). Gray’s outrageous stunts challenge the way audiences look at magic and writer Mike McGranaghan nails the plot: “If Siegfried dumped Roy and then launched a vendetta against Criss Angel, you’d have The Incredible Burt Wunderstone.”
The movie is passable for
○ family viewing but on the downside, it’s predictable and safe.
I’m also a fan of Tina Fey’s but I am apprehensive about watching this because the photo of her and Paul Rudd made me think it was a rom-com. Admission is actually more a film about what it means to be a parent.
Tina Fey plays Portia Nathan, a Princeton admissions officer who meets a promising young man from an alternative high school called Quest. It turns out, this young man could be the child she gave up for adoption in 1995. At the same time, Portia is working out issues with her single mom, Susannah, played by Lily Tomlin.
Quest is run by Portia’s former classmate John Pressman (Rudd) who traveled the world and adopted a child from Uganda named Nelson.
Admission is directed by Paul Weitz ( American Pie and About a Boy)— it’s endearing without being as formulaic or predictable as Wunderstone.
I also like that it doesn’t end with everything tied up in a pretty little knot, and that it acknowledges that families and parentchild relationships come in many different shapes and sizes beyond the traditional.
The Incredible Burt Wunderstone opened on March 20, Admission opens today.