The Great Buck Howard (PG, 2009)

On paper, THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD ought to be a slam dunk. Quirky, interesting premise? Check. A well-written character? Check. John Malkovich? Check. But it stops short of greatness, settling instead for aimlessness. Blunt is a delight, but Hanks is merely amiable in his role -- he lacks a certain strength required when acting opposite a tour-de-force like Malkovich, whose turn as a smiley, glad-handy, loungey almost-ran is impressive. (The film really ought to be called The Great John Malkovich, though Buck's character is inspired by the Amazing Kreskin.) Buck could actually amuse kids in a retro kind of way: He's clearly of a different time that's pre-Twitter, pre-Internet, and pre-everything else that's revved up life so fast.

In the end, the movie's biggest problem may be this: Though we're meant to understand that Troy learns a life lesson from his time with Buck, it's not clear what that lesson really is. Is it to never mess with a good thing? To love what you do? To persist? Or all of the above? We get the card tricks and the sleight-of-hand, but there's no big finish.