1989 comedy
Rating: 11/20
Plot: The titular magicians try to avoid being murdered after Penn tells a television audience that he wishes somebody would try to kill him.
Penn Jillette has to be the most unlikable person who I actually like. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. It might be the boisterous atheism which is something I never understand. Or maybe it's his ponytail. Or maybe it's just because he seems to dwarf anybody he's standing around. Or maybe it's just because of the amount that he has to talk having a mostly-silent partner. Or maybe he seems kind of full of himself. Regardless, I just like the guy. He's a fan of The Residents, he was one of the most likable Celebrity Apprentice contestants, and he's got a black sense of humor that is hard not to love. The latter drives this movie that the duo wrote, and if you like the duos dark comedy magic stylings, you'll probably watch this and be glad you did. It's just not a very good unfortunately. The plot is thin, really just there as an excuse more than to tell a story, and the acting is sometimes pretty bad. There are set-ups that really don't make a lot of sense either. Why are they practicing magic on a beach, for example? There's also a ton of Coca Cola product placement and even a random plug for Cocoa Puffs. There's surprisingly little magic in the whole thing, but even more alarming is that there's not much humor. I don't think I laughed a single time even though I did kind of like one line a lot--"With the Velvet Underground playing, I like to watch the Three Stooges."--mostly because I just couldn't figure it out. Oh, and you get to see Teller using nun-chucks right after the whole thing shifts to this weird noirish black and white thing. And yes, Larry, they're called nun-chucks with Teller uses them. I enjoy Penn and Teller's unbridled creativity and dark humor, but it just didn't translate very well to a full-length film. And although the resolution was unique (and maybe frustratingly confusing), the whole thing was sort of bland compared to what it should have been. Still, I'm probably glad I watched it.
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