'The Great Buck Howard' review

John Malkovich (Credit: Magnolia)

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Aimless twentysomething Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) ditches law school to gain life experience as the road manager/assistant to "mentalist" Buck Howard (John Malkovich), whose fame has been waning for years. As they travel from small town to smaller town, Buck formulates a comeback plan and hires junior publicist Valerie Brennan (Emily Blunt) to help get the word out.

The buzz: One of the most hyped films of Sundance 2008, “Buck Howard” left the festival without a distribution deal and questions of when it would actually be released. But as with “Sunshine Cleaning,” another hyped-and-then-delayed Sundance ’08 title co-starring Blunt, that time is now.

The verdict: Worth catching for Malkovich's terrific comedic performance alone. He sketches a tragically hilarious portrait of a man whose sense of entitlement has long outlasted his celebrity but not necessarily his talent. It's a reminder of just how entertaining Malkovich can be in the right role. And the rest of the film lives up to his dominant star turn, with Blunt providing reliably sharp supporting work, Hanks holding his own in a slightly underdeveloped role and writer-director McGinly demonstrating a comic sensibility worth nurturing. "Buck Howard" is a rare PG-rated adult comedy—sweet enough to merit the rating, and smart enough not to insult the intelligence of its target audience.

Did you know? One of the unfortunate perils of waiting to release a movie until a year after its festival debut? Some of the material may wind up awkwardly dated, like when Buck makes an appearance on MTV’s recently deceased “TRL.”

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