Review of Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989) by Magill F — 28 May 2008

I'm really not sure what to make of this movie. I love Penn and Teller, so I expected this film to be exceptional, or at least on par with their stage shows or later work on Bullshit!, but it really, really wasn't.

Instead, it was a total mess. Sure, the movie began fine, with lots of great schtick from the bad boys of magic as they play prank after prank on each other, but somewhere around the halfway mark everything in the movie derails and stops making sense altogether.

You can even pinpoint the spot where the film goes astray - there's a sudden switch to black and white, and Penn is seen wearing punk clothing while Teller dresses up as a ninja and twirls some nunchakus around.

After this point, the movie seems to dawdle along, spending way too much time on gags that really aren't that funny, or even scenes that are completely unnecessary, like Teller wandering around the beach alone, loading a gun he just bought.

And then, of course, there's the ending, where, just as the title promises, Penn and Teller get killed. And Penn's girlfriend. And an actor they hired for a prank. And a politician. And two cops who just happen to be passing by.

And the neighbor downstairs. As the end credits rolled, all I could think was that the film itself must be a big prank on the audience. And frankly, if that's the case, it's not a very good one.

Like I said before, I love Penn and Teller, but after seeing this, I'm truly thankful that they seem to get better with age.