The Great Buck Howard (2008)
Troy Gable defies his father and leaves law school to pursue his dream of becoming a writer in Los Angeles. To support himself, he takes a job as a road manager for “The Great” Buck Howard, a fading mentalist. Troy comes to enjoy traveling with Buck to performances in smaller venues such as Bakersfield and Akron. In particular, Troy sincerely admires Buck’s signature trick: having someone in the audience hide his fee for that night’s performance, which he then unfailingly discovers. (Kreskin is said to have actually performed this feat 6,000 times, only failing to find the money nine times.)
A reluctant publicist, Valerie Brennan, is sent to join them in Cincinnati as a replacement for a more senior colleague to promote Buck’s still secret attempt to resurrect his career. Valerie is disgusted by Buck’s verbal abuse towards her and Troy, with whom she becomes romantically involved. Buck reveals that his comeback will involve putting “hundreds” of people (actually only a few dozen) to sleep and then awakening them as if from the dead. The trick works, but despite a large press turnout, no one is there to record the act, since the news media is called away at the last second to cover a car accident involving Jerry Springer.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  John MalkovichBuck Howard  Colin HanksTroy Gable  Emily BluntValerie Brennan  Ricky JayGil Bellamy  Griffin DunneJonathan Finerman  Tom HanksMr. Gable  Steve ZahnKenny |
Troy Gable defies his father and leaves law school to pursue his dream of becoming a writer in Los Angeles. To support himself, he takes a job as a road manager for “The Great” Buck Howard, a fading mentalist. Troy comes to enjoy traveling with Buck to performances in smaller venues such as Bakersfield and Akron. In particular, Troy sincerely admires Buck’s signature trick: having someone in the audience hide his fee for that night’s performance, which he then unfailingly discovers. (Kreskin is said to have actually performed this feat 6,000 times, only failing to find the money nine times.)
A reluctant publicist, Valerie Brennan, is sent to join them in Cincinnati as a replacement for a more senior colleague to promote Buck’s still secret attempt to resurrect his career. Valerie is disgusted by Buck’s verbal abuse towards her and Troy, with whom she becomes romantically involved. Buck reveals that his comeback will involve putting “hundreds” of people (actually only a few dozen) to sleep and then awakening them as if from the dead. The trick works, but despite a large press turnout, no one is there to record the act, since the news media is called away at the last second to cover a car accident involving Jerry Springer.
