The Great Buck Howard

Once upon a time, Buck Howard (John Malkovich) spent his days in thelimelight. His mind-boggling feats as a mentalist extraordinaire ? notto be confused with those of a mere magician - earned him a marquee actin Vegas and 61 appearances on Johnny Carson?s Tonight Show. In his ownhumble opinion, his talents go far beyond simple sleight of hand ? hecan read minds and hypnotize not just a single soul but an entire roomof people! But nowadays, it?s clear to everyone but Buck that his acthas lost its luster; he performs in faded community centers and hasn?tsold out a theater in years.

Yet, with a hearty handshake and a trademark ?I love this town!,? BuckHoward perseveres, confident in his own celebrity, convinced hiscomeback is imminent. He just needs a new road manager and personalassistant. As it turns out, recent law school drop-out and unemployed,would-be writer Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) needs a job and a purpose.Working for the pompous, has-been mentalist fills the formerrequirement, but how it satisfies the latter is questionable,especially to his father (Tom Hanks), who still assumes Troy is in lawschool. Nonetheless, with the aid of a fiery publicist (Emily Blunt)and a bold stroke of fate, Buck surprisingly lands back into theAmerican consciousness, taking Troy along for the ride of his life.

As the coveted spotlight again shines on the great Buck Howard, Buckbecomes the unlikeliest of teachers as Troy learns a few tricks hecouldn?t possibly have picked up in law school.

As Buck Howard (John Malkovich) explains in Sean McGinly's funny valentine to the talk show mainstays of yesteryear, he's a mentalist, not a magician. Unlike the brooding protagonists of The Illusionist and The Prestige, Howard doesn't do Harry Houdini-style tricks. Rather, he reads minds, finds hidden objects, and performs other feats that eschew props and assistants. Back in the day, Howard appeared on The Tonight Show 61 times (McGinly based his character on The Amazing Kreskin), but his best years appear to be behind him when he takes on law-school dropout Troy (a low-key Colin Hanks) as his road manager. From the start, Troy finds his temperamental employer fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. Desperate to get back in the limelight, Howard decides to hypnotize several hundred audience members at once. Along with a sassy press agent (Emily Blunt) and two over-enthusiastic venue managers (Steve Zahn and Debra Monk), Troy works with Howard to make it happen. To his surprise, things go both better and worse than expected, and everything changes for the unlikely pair. Produced by Tom Hanks's Playtone banner and featuring the two-time Oscar winner as Toby's disapproving father, The Great Buck Howard follows the rise, fall, and rise template of many Hanks productions (see That Thing You Do!), but McGinly handles a large cast with ease, the laughs are plentiful, the cameos--John Stewart, Conan O’Brien, George Takei, etc.--are a treat, and the unpredictable Malkovich gives his most nuanced performance since, well, Being John Malkovich. --Kathleen C. Fennessy