MANY have tried and failed. TV comedy double acts have a hard time transferring from small to big screen. If Morecambe and Wise couldn't succeed, what makes Peep Show stars Mitchell and Webb think they can?.

They even play a double act, not doing comedy but magic. Best friends Harry (Mitchell) and Karl (Webb) are the greatest magic double act in the country.

It all goes spectacularly wrong when Harry finds out that his stage partner has been doing tricks in the bedroom with someone else's wife - his own.

The discovery spells the end of the act, especially after Harry's wife and also his stage assistant loses her head in a guillotine illusion.

Four years later and the two men still aren't speaking.

Harry's doing product promotions in a supermarket, while Karl's trying to promote his mind-reading and medium act. In need of cash, they end up competing against each other in an international magic competition.

Mitchell and Webb neatly sidestep the curse of TV pairs on film by spending much of the movie apart rather than one half of a double act.

While Magicians won't have you rolling in the aisles (unlike Harry's wife's head after the failed guillotine trick), it delivers a constant supply of chuckles and oddball characters. Among them are Stevenson's eager if inefficient would-be magician's assistant and Capaldi's camp magic show judge.

Director and former magician Andrew O'Connor doesn't strain for laughs, letting the script by Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain do the work.

Stars: David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Jessica Stevenson, Darren Boy, Peter Capaldi
Running time: 90 mins
Rating: Three stars