Les Magouilleurs

Penn and Teller Get Killed isn't what you'd call a triumph of skilled film-making. The primary function of the movie is to allow Penn and Teller to perform their routines and display their trademark style -- a style that has as much to do with their attitudes as it does their 'magic.' If you like them, you'll like the movie; if not, you probably won't.

That said, the plot is interesting enough, and the film is not JUST a vehicle. The film itself really does reflect their twisted sensibility, and that may be its strongest point -- it's not just "Penn and Teller do some magic with a plot pasted on." It's really what you'd expect if someone allowed these two to make a movie. (The ending, in particular, is one of the strangest I've ever seen.) The film is perfectly Penn and Teller: it gets inside your head, twists things around, breaks some stuff, and leaves with a smile as you try and figure out what to do with the mess.

Penn and Teller is a fictional film about how inviting killers to your head on national TV can lead to potential problems, even if you are Penn and Teller.

This film embodies almost everything that is Penn and Teller, because that is what a Penn and Teller film should represent: Penn and Teller. Let's get the bad out of the way first: The acting in the film is decent and comical, but not superb - especially the actors that play the side roles. Of course considering Penn and Teller are magicians whose job is to act in a way that conceals their tricks, their acting is not bad, although it feels like something is missing, especially in the more "emotional" parts of the film.

Also, there's a slight issue with the writing. The film is sort of a mix between comedy and thriller, but the twists are generally somewhat predictable, and a lot of the humor does not cause explosive laughter. Again, the writing is just a wee bit weak, but in my opinion not the main point of the film.

What the point of the film is though is lots of Penn and Teller: The viewer gets to see plenty of magic tricks and how they are done, Penn and Teller make commentary on various forms of superstition, and deliver what is in my opinion the silliest, somewhat apologetic yet quite possibly best ending a film could ever have.

Overall, I would recommend Penn and Teller Get Killed, even if I were on national TV.

This starts with a recreation of their upside-down trick on SNL like a late night talk show. As an off-handed comment to the host's question, Penn says that he wishes someone would try to kill him for excitement. They and their assistant Carlotta (Caitlin Clarke) are off to expose psychic surgery as fake. Her uncle is being tricked by some con-men.

This movie needs a good writer to write an actual script. Instead, Penn & Teller have written a meandering story. It does have some fun with their pranking and their magic tricks but at some point, I wonder when the story finally gets some traction. It tries to go surreal with Caitlin Clarke playing a completely different character. It takes awhile before I realized that it's not a dream sequence and that it is actually Caitlin Clarke. This is a movie where the concept of the ending supersedes the traditional narrative writing. The guys have a wild idea and write a rambling story to get to the finish. I still do like the absurdity of the ending.

Penn Jillette gets a death wish literally in this hilarious comedy featuring our favorite magicians Penn and Teller. Penn announces on live national television that he wishes someone were out to kill him, and on the way to Atlantic City, Penn and Teller get into a lot of mishaps when they are just about to die a gruesome death, the 'murderers' turn out to be people they know! Laugh out loud funny!

The funniest part of the movie was when Teller passes a theater playing a Stooge marathon of Shemp episodes and people walk out angry, and one heckler passes by and says, "Personally, I'm a Joe Besser fan"! In case nobody knew, Penn and Teller are fans of The Three Stooges. Also, Penn is a huge fan of classic rock from the 1960's and 1970's! It even shows how their magic tricks are done, as well!

If you want to see a movie with Penn and Teller that will keep you laughing this one is it! It's a movie anyone will enjoy! I sure did! I give it 4 stars!

Being a big Penn and Teller fan, and after hearing about this movie I was looking forwards to seeing it, and was gratified when, on a lonely Friday night, I saw it was showing on TV.

It started a little slowly, but I persevered, watching on. Yes it's a mildly amusing film. Certainly it gives us an insight into the world of the magicians, but when it comes down to it, it's simply a series of magic tricks strung together by a very thin plot. The tricks themselves are quite impressive, but in no way are they comparable to the magnificence of the duos live shows. It just doesn't compete. Worth watching but don't look forwards to anything special.