Tooth Fairy Review
Tooth Fairy Review
Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews.
Ok, maybe not, but one of the few local critics who can still tolerate me told me if I said Julie Andrews name three times it would write this review. As easier as that would make life, it’s my duty to prepare the adults out there who will surely be dragged to the new Dwayne Johnson vehicle with their youngsters. Perhaps this will be looked at as a survival guide for said parents, babysitters, or older brothers and/or sisters who’ll be yanked in here on chains. Yet, there is good news on the horizon. Tooth Fairy isn’t the assault of terrible like the trailers want you to believe. Now, that’s not to say the film is anything near decent, but every now and then it allows entertainment to rear its head through, if only for a moment or two at a time.
Partially this is due to the charm Dwyane Johnson has carried since his WWF/E days. The guy just has that command of him where he can make something out of nothing. Johnson’s not a great thespian, as he does fumble a couple of the quieter scenes here (mostly it’s the script though,) but his strength lies in being an entertainer. Most, if not all of his roles exploit that and Tooth Fairy is no different. Anyone above the age of four should despise this movie, but “The Rock” won’t let us. It’s as if there’s an understanding between him and the older audience where he says ‘The Rock knows what the material is, but stick with The Rock and he’ll get you though it, if ya smell what The Rock is cookin’.’
The supporting cast are all but outshined by one man who should be arrested for robbery for stealing as many scenes as he does. Billy Crystal joins Dwyane Johnson’s cause in making sure the older audience beat themselves with a mallet. Crystal’s older fairy Jerry is only given so much screen time and for that he’s rewarded with being the most memorable of them all. He’s not overblown and adds the right amount of comedy to his scenes to make them work. Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews, also makes an appearance here as head tooth fairy Lily. As delighful as Andrews will always be, one can’t help but feel she’s on auto-pilot as her Lily feels too much like Queen Clarisse Renaldi, only now she has a behemoth to scold.
Stephen Merchant appears as Tracy, and surprisingly has a good dynamic with Johnson. Both get overly silly at times yet it’s expected considering this is a kids film. Ashley Judd pops in as Johnson’s girlfriend Carly, as if to remind us she’s still going to look stunning as she reaches her older years. That’s really all you can take from her character, as she does nothing but look pretty in all her scenes. Her kids, portrayed by fellow native San Diegan Chase Ellison and Destiny Whitlock, are too standard to make an impression. Seth MacFarlane shows up in a cameo, and all but had this viewer wishing Johnson would have laid-eth the smacketh down on his roody poo candy ass for creating Something, Something, Something Dark Side…and also to be the best scene in this picture.
Try as the cast members may, they unfortunately can’t rescue the film from being just like every other standard kids film. There are five credited writers (Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Joshua Sternin, Jeffery Ventimilia, and Randi Mayem Singer) which would make you believe something original would get through. It doesn’t, as Tooth Fairy sticks to the same tired formula that kids of this generation will be familiar with. Director Michael Lembeck doesn’t seem to be wanting to break new ground either, nor should it have been expected he would do such a thing. He seems ok with the film getting a little out of hand by the end, and perfectly content with the groaning it will evoke from everyone not in his target audience.
And at the end of the day, that’s all that will matter to the producers, executives, and studio. In that respect, it’s a feat in and of itself that Tooth Fairy is able to make adult senses laugh. The worst most certainly might’ve been feared, and the movie does indeed try to be as terrible as the ads claim. However, The Rock, Billy Crystal, and auto-pilot Julie Andrews with a side of Stephen Merchant absolutely refuse to let it and entertain, if only in spurts. Don’t expect classic cinema, but stick to the old mantra of “hope for the best, expect the worst,” which might be the best way to somewhat enjoy this flick. Amazingly, you can handle this tooth.
Or maybe I just have a soft spot for a childhood idol…and hockey.
5/10
