Review of The Great Buck Howard (2008) by Ryan R — 02 May 2009

From Writer/Director Sean McGinly and Producer Tom Hanks comes The Great Buck Howard. Based on the real life stories and performances of The Amazing Kreskin, The Great Buck Howard follows a rather washed up hypnotist/magician Buck Howard (John Malkovich), his new road manager and law school dropout Troy (Colin Hanks) and the risks they take to try and get the aging Howard back to where he once was.

What makes the film work as well as it does was the ability to find a great Buck Howard (pun intended). Malkovich finds his character right off the bat and only gets better. His corny one-liners and unique gestures are repeated throughout the film, only making us love him more. Malkovich only adds to the character of Howard when he does become famous again the middle of film and tries to be the same old school performer, in the new millennium. Itâ??s just par for the course for Buck Howard when he confuses Jay Leno for Johnny Carson since he hasnâ??t been on the Tonight Show in so long and calls Conan Oâ??Brien, Collin. For comparison, Malkovich is just as crazy here as he was in Burn After Reading, only a lot less vulgar, violent, and angry. Just as good of a character study.

When Troy drops out of law school and takes a job as this performers road manager, he never realized what he could learn about himself. Colin Hanks plays the â??lost boyâ?? perfectly. Itâ??s reassuring to see Troy react to Buck Howard so naturally because the audience is doing the same thing. Becoming very close to Buck, Troy refuses to believe the rumors surfacing that The Great Buck Howard is a cheater. Emily Blunt played the typical love interest, Valerie, and did fine with it. Troy and Valerieâ??s short-lived romance was pleasurable to be a part of as we took a break for Buck Howardâ??s antics. Steve Zahn who appeared late in the film an owner of a small venue, was in the film way too long. His character was awkward, which was funny at first, but as he began to annoy the characters in the film, he was annoying me just as much.

A lot of credit goes to McGinly for this small, fun film. It never tried to do too much, proving that â??less is more.â?? The story and characters (other than Howard) are simple, no major sub plots to worry about, and obvious rise, climax, resolve. Was the film amazing? Did the acting blow me away? Was it flawless as whole? No. Am I fine with that? Absolutely! Halfway through such an easy and enjoyable film, I would never guess that I would be rather nervous to find out if The Great Buck Howard is or isnâ??t a cheater.