It's something that's going to be said again and again, but here it goes: This movie is the more comedic version of 'The Prestige'.

'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' stars Steve Carrel, Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey, Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin in a movie that involves rival magicians who compete in Las Vegas. It plays out as a string of these insanely over-the-top guys trying to out do eachother and that should make for a decent comedy.

The main reason I wanted to see this movie was the actors involved. I like Buscemi, Carrey, Arkin and Wilde, but I'm not a Steve Carrell fan. Me not liking Carrell doesn't really help this movie since his character is an unlikable dick. I'm not sure if his character was written that way or if that's just the way Carrell plays him, but I really didn't like his character. The movie makes it clear that you're suppose to like him and want him to succeed, but that wasn't the case for me. However, I did love Jim Carrey in the movie. Jim Carrey has always been one of my favorite comedians ever and this movie shows why I love him so much. A lot of his humor includes stuff you would see in stuff like 'Ace Ventura' or 'Dumb and Dumber'. It's him doing over-the-top stuff and making these hilarious faces that only he can pull off and that's why he stole the show. The rest of the acting is also fine. Alan Arkin is really goo in his scenes and Olivia Wilde and Steve Buscemi are likable enough to help move the plot forward, but plot is what the movie suffers from.

The overall story that this movie is telling comes off as really formulaic. Carrell and Buscemi hit a rough patch in their friendship, Carrell needs him back, it plays out in a way that's really by-the-books. Carrell also needs to perform a big comeback trick to win people over, and the movie does have some entertaining scenes involving magic. Those scenes with the magic are really fun to watch, but when they're over, the plot comes back into focus and it just makes me sad. I knew how the movie would play out and where all the characters were going to end up and it took me out of the movie.

As for the laughs, I think this movie did have its moments where I was laughing, but then there were jokes where I was just like, "That's really stupid." I'll say that 90% of the jokes I laughed at involved Jim Carrey and the other 10% was just stuff with Buscemi and Arkin. NOT Carrell, I couldn't find one think I liked about his character. I chuckled maybe once at something he said, but like I said, his character was an asshole and that didn't help with the jokes he was given or the story of him trying to make a comeback.

Overall, 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone' comes off as the type of movie Will Ferrel would do. (considering that I don't like Will Ferrel or his movies, I don't think he would've added much to the movie) There were moments in the movie where I laughed, Jim Carrey was hilarious, the scenes involving magical stuff were entertaining, but the plot is predictable, there are jokes that fall flat, Steve Carrell is a douchebag and the movie just doesn't do anything that we haven't seen before in a movie like this. If you're a Jim Carrey fan, you should at least see this movie once, but I wouldn't suggest rushing out to see this movie in theaters. It would make a decent rental.

Rating: C