Movie Reviews: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Oz the Great and Powerful and More

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The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

• Run time: 100 mins.
• Starring: Steve Carell , Steve Buscemi , Olivia Wilde , Jim Carrey , James Gandolfini
• Rated: PG-13

Mark Glass, Patch blogger: Steve Carell stars in this almost-funny-enough comedy as a headlining Las Vegas magician who has lost his way. We see how he and his partner (Steve Buscemi) bonded as nerdy children in 1982, glomming onto magic tricks as their own Zenlike path to enlightenment... or at least to the end of being ostracized and bullied by the other kids. Fast-forward to the present. They’ve been doing the same glitzy, hokey act for over a decade, earning fame, fortune and their own theater attached to a major casino. But that youthful capacity for awe has dissipated for Carell’s Wonderstone, turning him into a smug, jaded jerk. The plot basically follows the format of one of his best movies, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, as a guy at the top of his overpaid niche in the entertainment world loses it all from undeserved vanity, bottoms out, and must learn to be a better person if he ever hopes to rise from the ashes of his self-destruction. Despite a wealth of comedic assets (Jim Carrey as a Criss Angel Mindfreak-esque rival; Alan Arkin as a Yodalike mentor figure, and the eminently-spoofable milieu of Vegas’ schmaltzy slice of Showbiz, much of the film is surprisingly flat. Full Review

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Lore

• Run time: 109 mins.
• Starring: Ursina Lardi, Philip Wiegratz, Eva-Maria Hagen
• Rated: NR

Mark Glass, Patch blogger: This German drama serves up a mixed bag of emotions. In the waning days of World War II, a mother leaves her five children in the hands of the eldest, teenaged Lore, in an isolated house. Mom is about to be hauled off by the authorities, presumably for the role she and her husband played in some of the Nazis’ inglorious activities. The kids must fend for themselves, trying to reach a relative’s home in Hamburg, with little in the way of assets or security. Full Review

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Like Someone in Love

• Run time: 109 mins
• Starring: Ryo Kase, Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno,Denden, Kaneko Kubota, Ryota Nakanishi, Mihoko Suzuki
• Rated: NR

Mark Glass, Patch blogger: For a drama about a young hooker (Rin Takanashi) having problems with her boyfriend, this subtitled Japanese film is surprisingly un-sexy. The girl seems reluctant enough about her work to evoke some compassion. She’s sent on a "date" with a kindly old retired professor ((Tadashi Okuno), who becomes fond of her, even driving her to college the next morning for her exam. He meets her angry young beau, who seems not to know what she does for a living. That leads to a superbly-written conversation in his car while waiting for the lass to finish the day’s academic chore. Full Review

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Oz the Great and Powerful

• Run time: 130 mins.
• Starring: James Franco , Mila Kunis , Rachel Weisz , Michelle Williams , Joey King
• Rated: PG

Mark Glass, Patch blogger: **½ This overlong prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz offers much to admire, but more to regret. Its new screenplay gives us the backstory on how the Wizard wound up there before Dorothy blew into town for her famous adventure. With the resources of the Disney empire and Sam Raimi at the helm, one might expect another fantasy for the ages. One would be severely disappointed. James Franco stars as Oz, a cheesy magician in a seedy little traveling carnival in 1905 Kansas. He has no scruples about conning the rubes, or trying to seduce the local lovelies. While fleeing from an irate husband in a hot air balloon, a tornado swoops him up to the not-so-merry old land of Oz, where he’s believed to be the wizard of prophesy to free the kingdom from the clutches of an evil witch. As in the original, the Kansas setup is filmed in black & white, creating a stunning contrast when he reaches the colorful splendor of the main action. Full Review

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