Got kids? You can handle the 'Tooth'
Derek (Dwayne Johnson) has wings, but he's no angel. (20th Century Fox)
Tooth Fairy
Running time: 102 minutes
MPAA rating: PG (mild profanity, rude humor, violent sports action)
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I never saw Dwayne Johnson play football as a defensive lineman for the U of Miami, or greased-up and getting it done as WWE wrestling star The Rock.
I know this, though, Johnson is one fearless son of a gun in front of a movie camera.
We know now that spectacle wrestling is fake, or at the very least, orchestrated. Comedy, however, is real, and really hard to pull off.
"Tooth Fairy" is just the latest example that the guy is willing to do anything to make a movie audience laugh.
My favorite Johnson performance came in the little seen "Be Cool," the 2005 sequel to "Get Shorty," where he played a gay, lisping bodyguard.
Since then Johnson has hammed it up in the remake of "The Race to Witch Mountain" and played an egomaniac NFL quarterback whose life is turned upside down when an unexpected young daughter appears out of his freewheeling past ("The Game Plan").
"Tooth Fairy" takes Johnson back into a sports arena and, we should add, into a pink tutu while sporting feathery Tooth Fairy wings.
Derek Thompson (Johnson), a Michigan minor league hockey player with a bum shoulder and a bum attitude, is summoned to serve Tooth Fairy duty after quashing a kid's dream of playing in the NHL someday.
A reluctant sprite at best, Derek bungles Tooth Fairy duty at first. The pink tutu was a Fairyland wardrobe malfunction. So that's fixed, but Derek still has a little problem using too much amnesia dust, etc. on his way to learning some important life lessons. He gets those from his guide fairy Tracy (British actor Stephen Merchant) and Lily, the Chief Tooth Fairy portrayed with some verve by Julie Andrews.
Written by a committee of six (usually a very bad sign), "Tooth Fairy" is about as silly as family comic fantasy comes. Director Michael Lembeck, who was at the helm of the second and third "Santa Clause" comedies, somehow pulls it all together enough to provide a fun comic romp much of the time.
Johnson, who smiles too broadly and too often to really score as a comic actor, does anyway. Go figure. Ashley Judd's smile as Derek's girlfriend Carly looks forced, unfortunately. Judd (Where's she been?) appears to just be going through the motions at times.
Actually, Billy Crystal, who plays Fairyland gadget guru Jerry, is the funniest cast member. Oddly, though, Crystal is mentioned nowhere in the film's credits or press notes. Odder still, Crystal dropped by NBC''s "Jay Leno Show" on Thursday night to promote the film.
Oddest (Is that a word?) of all, however, is that I had a semi-severe toothache when I attended the preview screening of "Tooth Fairy."
But this is not about me. If you have kids who are young enough to still enjoy hanging out with, you know, parents, load 'em up and check out "Tooth Fairy." You'll have some real family fun together.
And my toothache? It's much better, thank you.
(OK, it's about me a little.)
I know this, though, Johnson is one fearless son of a gun in front of a movie camera.
We know now that spectacle wrestling is fake, or at the very least, orchestrated. Comedy, however, is real, and really hard to pull off.
"Tooth Fairy" is just the latest example that the guy is willing to do anything to make a movie audience laugh.
My favorite Johnson performance came in the little seen "Be Cool," the 2005 sequel to "Get Shorty," where he played a gay, lisping bodyguard.
Since then Johnson has hammed it up in the remake of "The Race to Witch Mountain" and played an egomaniac NFL quarterback whose life is turned upside down when an unexpected young daughter appears out of his freewheeling past ("The Game Plan").
"Tooth Fairy" takes Johnson back into a sports arena and, we should add, into a pink tutu while sporting feathery Tooth Fairy wings.
Derek Thompson (Johnson), a Michigan minor league hockey player with a bum shoulder and a bum attitude, is summoned to serve Tooth Fairy duty after quashing a kid's dream of playing in the NHL someday.
A reluctant sprite at best, Derek bungles Tooth Fairy duty at first. The pink tutu was a Fairyland wardrobe malfunction. So that's fixed, but Derek still has a little problem using too much amnesia dust, etc. on his way to learning some important life lessons. He gets those from his guide fairy Tracy (British actor Stephen Merchant) and Lily, the Chief Tooth Fairy portrayed with some verve by Julie Andrews.
Written by a committee of six (usually a very bad sign), "Tooth Fairy" is about as silly as family comic fantasy comes. Director Michael Lembeck, who was at the helm of the second and third "Santa Clause" comedies, somehow pulls it all together enough to provide a fun comic romp much of the time.
Johnson, who smiles too broadly and too often to really score as a comic actor, does anyway. Go figure. Ashley Judd's smile as Derek's girlfriend Carly looks forced, unfortunately. Judd (Where's she been?) appears to just be going through the motions at times.
Actually, Billy Crystal, who plays Fairyland gadget guru Jerry, is the funniest cast member. Oddly, though, Crystal is mentioned nowhere in the film's credits or press notes. Odder still, Crystal dropped by NBC''s "Jay Leno Show" on Thursday night to promote the film.
Oddest (Is that a word?) of all, however, is that I had a semi-severe toothache when I attended the preview screening of "Tooth Fairy."
But this is not about me. If you have kids who are young enough to still enjoy hanging out with, you know, parents, load 'em up and check out "Tooth Fairy." You'll have some real family fun together.
And my toothache? It's much better, thank you.
(OK, it's about me a little.)
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