Find out about the plot of The Great Buck Howard and read the movie summary by Michael The Moviegoer.
THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD = **
“Howard The Duck?”
John Malkovich is a has-been magician (or “mentalist”) named Buck Howard who believes he’s more famous than he actually is. After 61 appearances on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, he shuns Jay Leno and refers to Conan O’Brien as Colin. (An example of this film’s best attempts at humor.)
Tom Hanks’ real-life son Colin, plays Buck Howard’s assistant, and Hanks himself has two scenes in which he plays his son’s father. Not much of a stretch there!
I can’t tell if this film wants to be taken seriously or if it’s trying to be a comedy. Things that should be funny barely register a chuckle.
This movie is uncomfortably similar to the 1982 comedy “My Favorite Year” in which Peter O’Toole played Alan Swann, a has-been movie star trying to make a comeback. Buck Howard has none of Swann’s dramatic flair. Malkovich’s performance is oddly deadpan. An enormous disappointment.
DVD Watch: I don’t know why, but this movie reminded me of a rarely seen Martin Scorsese film from 1983 called “The King Of Comedy”. Robert DeNiro plays a truly oddball character by the name of Rupert Pupkin, and he stalks America’s top TV talk-show host played by Jerry Lewis. Disguised as a silly comedy, this movie is actually a top-notch psychological kidnapping thriller, and DeNiro’s performance is one of the creepiest and scariest I have ever seen. It’s how I wish Malkovich had played Buck Howard.
Michael The Moviegoer
