This starts with a recreation of their upside-down trick on SNL like a late night talk show. As an off-handed comment to the host's question, Penn says that he wishes someone would try to kill him for excitement. They and their assistant Carlotta (Caitlin Clarke) are off to expose psychic surgery as fake. Her uncle is being tricked by some con-men.
This movie needs a good writer to write an actual script. Instead, Penn & Teller have written a meandering story. It does have some fun with their pranking and their magic tricks but at some point, I wonder when the story finally gets some traction. It tries to go surreal with Caitlin Clarke playing a completely different character. It takes awhile before I realized that it's not a dream sequence and that it is actually Caitlin Clarke. This is a movie where the concept of the ending supersedes the traditional narrative writing. The guys have a wild idea and write a rambling story to get to the finish. I still do like the absurdity of the ending.
This movie needs a good writer to write an actual script. Instead, Penn & Teller have written a meandering story. It does have some fun with their pranking and their magic tricks but at some point, I wonder when the story finally gets some traction. It tries to go surreal with Caitlin Clarke playing a completely different character. It takes awhile before I realized that it's not a dream sequence and that it is actually Caitlin Clarke. This is a movie where the concept of the ending supersedes the traditional narrative writing. The guys have a wild idea and write a rambling story to get to the finish. I still do like the absurdity of the ending.