So here it is another excursion in to family cinema for ex-wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Doesn’t it seem like a bit of a formula now? The Rock plays an aging sports star that all of a sudden has to deal with kids. (See: The Game Plan)
So for this film, Johnson plays a hard-charging minor league ice hockey player whose nickname “Tooth Fairy” comes from his “separating” opposing players from their teeth. Due to his own experiences in life Derrick finds himself somewhat jaded and even though he sees it as being a realist, his honest “Lower your expectations” kind of attitude has begun to impact on those around him. Hence he finds himself sentenced to two weeks of being an actual tooth fairy. With tools like Shrinking paste, Invisibility Spray and Amnesia Dust, you get the feeling this is not going to be an easy sentence to complete.
So let me start the review part of this with the disclaimer that I did not expect much of this film. I was hoping for a few laughs, some form of plot and more that my 8 year old daughter would enjoy it. (After all that’s what makes me happy) What I got was actually better than what I had hoped for. Some of the jokes were actually quite clever, thanks to wonderfully uncomfortable performance from English actor Stephen Merchant. Merchant is best known for being the co-creator with Ricky Gervais of The Office and Extras. In fact you might even remember him as the bumbling and completely useless agent in Extras. He is super tall and the most accurate descriptive word for him would be gangly. His comedic timing and delivery is as always brilliant. A true highlight in the film is the scenes with him training to be a Tooth Fairy under the supervision of the Rock. Merchant brought that witty dry British humour into this film which helped add to the usual American “set up and punch-line” comedy that can often seem rather so plastic.
So plenty of slapstick, a completely predictable plotline and a nice combination American/English cast actually brought this family film into a bearable position.
Reviewed by: Jon E Clist
Releases: 14th January 2010
Rating: G
Running time: 101 minutes
Genre: Family Comedy
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock’ Johnson, Julie Andrews, Stephen Merchant & Ashley Judd
Director: Michael Lembeck
