Tooth Fairy (2010)

Directed by: Michael Lembeck | 101 minutes | comedy, family, fantasy | Actors: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Ryan Sheckler, Seth MacFarlane, Julie Andrews, Chase Ellison, Destiny Whitlock, Brandon T. Jackson, Dan Joffre, Ellie Harvie, Barclay Hope, Michael Daingerfield, Josh Emerson, Dale Wolfe, Steven Bewley, Brendan Penny, Lee Tikhon, Darien Provost, David Quinlan, Steve Levy, Simon King, Juno Ruddell, Nicole Muñoz, Brendan Meyer, Kevin Atwell, Billy Crystal

Before appearing in ‘The Mummy Returns’ (2001) and ‘The Scorpion King’ (2002), Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was primarily known as a wrestling king. Since then, he has alternated acting with performances in the ring. Like other brawns like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, Johnson soon made forays from action and fighting spectacles to kid-friendly comedy. Stallone completely missed the mark with ‘Oscar’ (1991) and ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot’ (1992); Ahh-nuld was a lot more successful with family films such as ‘Twins’ (1988) and ‘Kindergarten Cop’ (1990), although he often made a fool of himself – with the tragic low point being the Christmas film ‘Jingle All the Way’ (1996) . Dwayne Johnson took over from The Governator without a murmur, which he previously showed in ‘The Game Plan’ (2007) and now in ‘Tooth Fairy’ (2010). In both films he plays a (dismissed) sports hero who, thanks to his association with children, learns valuable life lessons. Movies with a high Disney content!

In ‘Tooth Fairy’ Johnson plays Derek Thompson, a retiring ice hockey player who once played at the highest level but has been banned from the regional league due to injury. There he’s more of a fairground attraction than a sports hero: Thompson’s nickname, ‘Tooth Fairy’, came to him because of his famous body check, which caused many opponents to lose a tooth. A few minutes per game, Thompson is allowed on the ice to do his trick. On the one hand he still feels a lot, on the other hand he sees young boys rushing past him on all sides. His time is up, but he won’t admit it just yet. His frustrations eat into him and he sometimes takes it out on his environment. His girlfriend Carly (Ashley Judd) isn’t quite used to his self-centered outbursts yet. When he tells her daughter that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist one evening, this turns out to be very unfortunate. Derek must answer for destroying the dreams of others. He ends up in the headquarters of the tooth fairies, where he is tasked by the ‘supreme fairy’ (Julie Andrews) to help with the retrieval of teeth for a week. He can be called up at any time, so his new job regularly gets him into trouble.

Michael Lembeck is not exactly a director that you are passionate about, because except for a few episodes of series and a single TV movie, he has little startling on his list of achievements. Or are you blown away by ‘The Santa Clause’ part 2 (2002) and 3 (2006)? Seen in that light, ‘Tooth Fairy’ isn’t that bad after all. Well, the humor is often very bland and the film is very predictable, but fortunately it never gets boring. The film relies heavily on the natural charisma of Dwayne Johnson, who is by no means the best actor in Hollywood, but nevertheless splashes off the screen. Even though Derek Thompson isn’t a sociable or friendly man at all at first, you like him right from the start. Johnson is backed by an impressive support cast, including Julie Andrews, Ashley Judd, Billy Crystal and Stephen Merchant. Unfortunately, their talents are far from being fully utilized. Judd, in particular, hardly gets any space to develop herself in her colorless role. Crystal, Merchant and also Seth MacFarlane (‘Family Guy’) are brought in for a little fun here and there. Merchant is still doing reasonably well and is one of the few bright spots in this film, but Crystal (who can be admired in a film for the first time since ‘Analyze That’ (2002)) and MacFarlane do not get further than a minimal cameo. Sin!

Remarkably, although this film is primarily aimed at a young audience, there are also quite a few violent scenes in ‘Tooth Fairy’ – especially on the ice rink where the hockey players do not treat each other gently. This imbalance may have arisen because as many as six (!) screenwriters interfered with the script. You do expect the moralizing ending in a film like this one, it also makes the film extremely predictable. ‘Tooth Fairy’ in no way distinguishes itself from the first family film. It’s not all bad, especially in the cast there is too much talent for that. But from people like Ashley Judd, Billy Chrystal and Julie Andrews you simply expect a little more and you don’t get that. What do you get? Dwayne Johnson in a tutu! Oh, the little ones will undoubtedly make you laugh. Lower your expectations, then ‘Tooth Fairy’ is not that bad.