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The Great Buck Howard

The Great Buck Howard

Comedy · 2008

When a law school dropout answers an advertisement to be a personal assistant he unknowingly signs on to work for a belligerent has-been magician struggling to resurrect his career. This leads to a journey across the country staging the comeback of a lifetime.

Movie details

The Great Buck Howard

“Greatness is a state of mind.”

2008 Comedy 1h 30m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

When a law school dropout answers an advertisement to be a personal assistant he unknowingly signs on to work for a belligerent has-been magician struggling to resurrect his career. This leads to a journey across the country staging the comeback of a lifetime.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Great Buck Howard?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Sean McGinly

Written by

Sean McGinly

John Malkovich

John Malkovich

Buck Howard

Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt

Valerie Brennan

Steve Zahn

Steve Zahn

Kenny

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks

Mr. Gable

Colin Hanks

Colin Hanks

Troy Gable

Patrick Fischler

Patrick Fischler

Michael Perry

Ricky Jay

Ricky Jay

Gil Bellamy

Court is in session

Put The Great Buck Howard on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.