I freely admit that Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson is a guilty pleasure of mine in every sense of the word. As a male, I wish I had his physique. I wish I could have his athletic skill. I don't necessarily want his acting talent but I won't reject his success. Dwayne Johnson stars in Tooth Fairy as aging hockey player Derek Thompson. Derek Thompson is stuck in the minor leagues struggling with the fears of his crumbling career. He is also in a promising relationship that never seems to get off the ground due to his selfish atttitude. Through a twist of fate or magic or whatever he becomes a tooth fairy for a couple of weeks so he can learn that there is still magic in this world and the greatest fear in life is losing ones sense of wonder.
Tooth Fairy is part Santa Claus and part The Game Plan. There isn't anything really new in the story and all the plot twists are relatively predictable even for a PG rated audience. I guess the joy in this film comes from watching a rather large individual dress up in powder blue pajamas with fairy wings and then eventually covering his powder blue pajama fairy costume in hockey pads. Is it entertaining? I won't deny it - I chuckled. It helps that Stephen Merchant (co-creator of the hit show The Office) plays the tooth fairy case worker assigned to help the confused hockey player complete his assignments. Julie Andrews plays the fairy godmother and Billy Crystal has a goofy but delightful cameo as the gadget man for the tooth fairy agency. Oh and Ashley Judd is in the movie as the girlfriend with the the daughter who is told by Derek that there is no such thing as the tooth fairy and a son that is struggling through those early teen years. Again, nothing new here.... selfish egomaniac discovers that his own fears ruins the dreams of others, his heart is melted by the kindness of strangers and a family wanting to love him.
Dwayne Johnson is not a great actor but he is more flexible than Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone ever were or could have been. He has the ability to deliver some fun lines and use more facial expressions that Harrison Ford has ever had. He is more charming than the bland and robotic Vin Diesel. He also has the size to pull of the silly sight gag of wearing a tutu. He plays everything pretty straight and like every one of his roles you rarely get the impression that he is playing the role rather than playing himself. I suppose that is why much of his roles are of an arrogant athlete. At the same time, the scenes between Johnson and Merchant are charming. Johnson holds his own, delivering clever jokes and bad puns back forth between the great comedic talent Merchant. Hopefully Merchant becomes the new Eric Idle or John Cleese, co-starring in a variety of films as the funny English guy. Merchant is really funny in his role as Tracy the case worker that desires to move up and become a real tooth fairy.
Tooth Fairy is certainly not a great movie but it has some moments that are pretty darn funny. It also has lengthy moments that can be completely ignored. I'd try not to ignore the moments with Merchant. I wonder if Dwayne Johnson will continue to make these films directed for children or if he will ever attempt a role that can actually challenge his ability as an actor. Tooth Fairy is directed at children but with that in mind there is very little physical humor and sight gags that would interest children or at least young children. Many of the lines delivered by Johnson, Merchant and even Crystal are sarcastic nuggets, banter or bad (but good) puns that I am unsure children would understand. I say this because at the age of 27 I still miss a good (but bad) pun from time to time.
Tooth Fairy might not be that good but it has 20 minutes of intentional humor in a 90 minute movie and that is a lot better than a lot of other so called comedies I have seen as of late. It might be hard to recommend the movie unless you like guilty pleasures or lack high expectations, enjoy the Rock or the notion of Dwayne Johnson playing hockey. It is a relatively funny concept. Carry on Mr. Johnson. Carry on.
No comments:
Post a Comment