After The Rundown, I generally tried to give Dwayne Johnson the benefit of the doubt when it came to his future film endeavors. It was clear he had a knack for comedic timing and I was eager to let him prove himself. He still obviously has the potential to be a great comic actor, but his choice of projects since The Rundown don’t exactly instill confidence. Be Cool, Southland Tales, Doom, The Scorpion King, and The Gridiron Gang amounted to little more than disappointments that made me think I’d overestimated Dwayne’s talent from his first major outing. My enthusiasm to see him succeed even led me to offer a soft appraisal of The Game Plan a few years back, but there’s just no excusing Tooth Fairy. It reeks of poorly though out feature with a cast that can’t land parts in films of a higher caliber. You could sit your kids down in front of this inoffensive tale of a man learning to appreciate the value of dreams, but there are far better choices out there. Why settle?
Derek Thompson (Johnson), an aging hockey star known more for his roughhouse antics than his scoring ability, finds his personal and professional life on the rocks. His domination in the minor league hockey world comes under fire from a fresh new rookie with the promise that makes him the focus of all sports commentators and the leading contender for a draft up to the majors. The new upstart makes Thompson feel like the older veteran that he is and instills a sense of insecurity with how Thompson has pursued his career since earning the nickname “Tooth Fairy”, so-called because of his brutal checks which cause other players to lose teeth. Meanwhile, his on-again off-again relationship with Carly (Ashley Judd) is constantly under fire due to Derek’s personal fatalistic belief system which time and time again threatens to shoot down the hopes and ambitions of Carly’s two children, Randy (Chase Ellison) and Tess (Destiny Whitlock). Derek seems dead set on destroying the illusion of childhood fantasies for Tess and stripping Randy of any self-confidence.
And that’s where Julie Andrews comes in.
Julie Andrews’s presence in a move used to signify some level of grace or quality to a film. That meaning just about completely ended by the time Princess Diaries 2 arrived in theaters, and it’s only gotten worse ever since. In Tooth Fairy, she plays the head of all tooth fairies who manages the indentured servitude of Derek as he attempts to work off the sentence she imposes upon him for shattering the dreams of so many children with his pessimistic candor. So, he must spend two weeks acting as a tooth fairy, using wondrous means to sneak into children’s rooms and exchanging money for teeth. His position comes with a few neat tricks, but mostly restrictions along the lines of never telling anyone what he does at night, a concept which seems wholly ridiculous when his newfound wings seem willing to pop out without warning in public places.
As Derek serves his time he learns something about the importance of dreams and goes on to help Randy realize his musical ambitions and tutors his tooth fairy mentor (Stephen Merchant, good friend of Ricky Gervais) on becoming one of the winged fairies.
Tooth Fairy ultimately falters by having too little for young ones to find funny while aiming at such an adolescent level of comedy that even adults will find it hard to love. The hi-def transfer only helps it so much as there are very few moments where the Blu-ray treatment helps. Otherwise it’s just a b-grade kiddie flick that fails to effectively entertain kids or adults and only serves up mediocre visual wonder. The cast is clearly more capable than the film requires, but their talent has little to do with the notably dissatisfying final product.
Seth MacFarlane and Billy Crystal make woefully small cameo appearances.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The combo pack features the movie on Blu-ray, DVD, and as a digital copy. The extras include the typical audio commentary with Director Michael Lembeck, some deleted scenes and a gag reel, along with a few popular songs in the sing-along “Fairy-oke” featurette. It’s a selection of very typical and boring extras to go along with a movie of similar quality.
There are better choices out there.
"Tooth Fairy" is on sale May 4, 2010 and is rated PG. Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by Michael Lembeck. Written by Jim Piddock and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel and Joshua Sternin & Jeffrey Ventimilia and Pandi Mayem Singer. Starring Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal, Dwayne Johnson, Julie Andrews, Seth MacFarlane, Stephen Merchant.
