-By Shirley Sealy

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One suspects that John Malkovich chooses his film roles not just for the challenge of fleshing out yet another unique fictional persona, but also to reveal yet another unique facet of the real John Malkovich. This certainly seems to be the case in his bravura performance as the title character in The Great Buck Howard, a magician and “mentalist” who's billed as a former headliner in Las Vegas and frequent guest star on the long-gone Johnny Carson show.

In other words, Howard's a has-been—but he's the only one who doesn't know it. Now, John Malkovich is not and, let us hope, never will be a has-been, but his empathy for that condition certainly shines through in this often funny film that manages to balance a bucket-load of sweet, old-fashioned naïvete with a barrel-full of raging showbiz megalomania.

The naïve one is Troy (Colin Hanks), a law school dropout and dreamer who answers an ad for what sounds like a fun part-time job as personal assistant to Buck Howard—a one-time household name who's been reduced to playing gigs in small-town venues. Despite Buck's bombast and self-delusion, Troy comes to admire the guy. First, because Buck makes the best of it wherever he goes, shouting to one and all, “I love this town!” as if he really means it. And secondly, because Buck always leaves his audience gasping in amazement when he performs his signature “trick” at the end of each show. It involves asking a member of the audience to hide a stash of cash (Buck's performance fee) while he and his entire entourage go offstage. Then Buck returns to wander through the auditorium, eyes closed in concentration, sniffing the air for the scent of money. Try as he might, Troy can't figure out how Buck always nails it—retrieving his cash every time.

As good as Buck is at such crowd-pleasing tricks, he's got an even more spectacular stunt up his sleeve, and he promises Troy that this one will catapult him back into the national spotlight. Unsurprisingly, the more the young man learns about show business, the more hooked on it he becomes. Or, perhaps he's simply hooked on the sassy New York publicist (Emily Blunt) who's brought in to help launch Buck's Big Comeback. Of course, Troy's exciting new job—not to mention the new girlfriend—displeases his dad (Tom Hanks, Colin's real-life father), who shows up every now and then to try to talk him into returning to law school.

Tom Hanks (who's also one of the film's producers) is not the only well-known movie or TV personality to pop up in an uncredited appearance in The Great Buck Howard. Martha Stewart and Jon Stewart are among those who appear in brief cameos, and Jay Leno is the target of a running gag about Buck's futile attempts to get booked on “The Tonight Show.” When he finally lands a guest spot—wouldn't you know?—Buck gets bumped by a blabbermouth talk-show regular like Tom Arnold—whose obsequious apologies only irritate Buck all the more.

Unfortunately, writer-director Sean McGinly's script relies far too much on Troy's voice-over narration to move things along—which means that Troy is often seen in blank-faced contemplation as his thoughts ramble on. Perhaps this is a good thing, because, based on the evidence here, the young Mr. Hanks has a long way to go before his acting skills can come close to matching those of a powerhouse performer like Malkovich. And, for that matter, this Hollywood scion has a hard time holding his own opposite the talented Emily Blunt—who illustrates once again that she's a naturally sexy and funny screen presence who, by rights, should be getting more substantive roles than this one.

The Great Buck Howard is not a great movie, or an important one—but for true-blue Malkovich fans, it may be unmissable. The film's costume and makeup people deserve lots of credit for helping the quirky actor become a character like Buck. (Oh, that pompadour! Oh, those shiny suits and day-glo ties!) But those cunning. all-seeing eyes are purely Malkovich's own; that churlish lip, the smooth-as-silk voice, that terrible temper and, conversely, the purring petulance that erupts in the wake of Buck's explosive conviviality…well, there ain't nobody who can do those things like The Great John Malkovich. He probably hasn't had so much fun since making the eponymous Being John Malkovich.