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Penn and Teller burst onto the scene as part of the new-vaudeville wave of the mid 1980s. Riding high on the basis of a hit off-Broadway show, these two magicians--who poke fun at magic even as they pull off masterful illusions with a taste for blood--tried to transfer that sense of gruesome wonder to the big screen and missed the boat badly. Working with director Arthur Penn, they concocted a movie about themselves, in which Penn (the big one, who talks; the diminutive Teller never speaks) announces on national TV that he wishes someone would try to kill him. An intriguing idea, except they never do anything with it. There's the occasional bit of sleight of hand and the odd practical joke, but otherwise, this movie can't pull a rabbit out of its hat. --Marshall Fine