There's little magic and even less humor in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. A lackluster script, poor direction, and a dialed-in lead performance from Steve Carell make this ensemble comedy a big disappointment. The lone highlight and saving grace is Jim Carrey, who's hilarious as the antagonist. He doesn't get a lot of screen time, but rescues the film from being a real dud. It goes to show that having a talented cast of big names doesn't amount to much if there's no chemistry between them.

Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi star as Las Vegas celebrity magicians, Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton. The pair meets as bullied children who fall under the spell of TV magician Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin). They learn his tricks then embark on a thirty year career as a successful magic act. Fame and fortune turns Burt into an insufferable prima donna. He takes Anton for granted, beds anything that comes his way, and goes through beautiful assistants like a deck of cards. Burt and Anton's reign as the top magic act on the Vegas strip ends when the shocking Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) comes to town. Famous for his insane stunts and cable TV show, Brain Rapist, Steve makes it his mission to take down Burt. Before long Burt is broke, friendless after Anton leaves, and on his own for the first time in years. Only his beleaguered last assistant (Olivia Wilde), has any faith that he can be the great magician he once was.

I was fairly excited to see this film. Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey as warring magicians in a slapstick comedy, how could you go wrong? That's comedy gold. This has to be good. Wrong. Sometimes the cake doesn't come out quite as expected. The overall premise had a lot of potential, but the script by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley is very weak. The magic is lame, the characters one-note, and the plot painfully thin. I think director Don Scardino thought his cast was so good; they could improv big laughs where the script doesn't have them. Unfortunately this is not the case because the chemistry between the leads is not there. Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi don't click. It looks like they're just going through the motions. Buscemi's character takes a big hiatus in the film, leaving Carell to deliver on the Burt growing as a person motif. It doesn't work. I wish it did, but Carell seems wooden and distracted.

Jim Carrey is absolutely hilarious as Steve Gray. Think of an unholy mix of David Blaine and Criss Angel. His character's antics are cringe inducing as he pushes his body to demented extremes. He's also a total jerk. Taking great pleasure in knocking Burt, Anton, and whoever gets in his way down a few notches. Carrey is an actor that has never gotten the accolades he deserves. I'm not sure how much of what we see is scripted, but he single handedly lifts this film from the gutter. The man is a comedic genius. The academy never rewards comedic performances and that's a shame. His talent is rare and I sincerely hope one day he gets an award for it.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a letdown, plain and simple. I feel that this film could have been so much better. The blame can be spread equally, there's not one thing that drags it down. Thank goodness for Jim Carrey or it would have been unwatchable. Save this one for your Netflix queue.