Tooth Fairy

Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ashley Judd, Stephen Merchant, Julie Andrews, Billy Crystal, Ryan Sheckler, Seth McFarlane, Chase Ellison, Destiny Whitlock
Directed by: Michael Lembeck
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: When an arrogant hockey player (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) ruins the dreams of a young child, he receives a summons to serve for a week as a tooth fairy. He balks against the assignment, but finds himself unable to break free. Reluctantly, he tries to make it through the week.

Review:

Tim: I really like The Rock (it is still hard for me to call him Dwayne Johnson), but even still, I have to admit I was really not looking forward to this film. The whole idea just looked stupid and pointless. Everything about this movie reeked of a bomb, yet I tried hard to put those feelings aside. Unfortunately, it didn't help. This is a very, very bad movie. I understand that this is a kid's movie, but there still needs to be enough in here to expand to other demographics to make it enjoyable for people besides 7-11 year olds.

The biggest problem with this film is that there are just so many unbelievably cheesy moments. My eyes physically hurt from all the eye-rolling I was doing. The script is an absolute travesty of lazy writing. The movie is full of cliches and tired, boring events. There is nothing in this movie that is exciting or unexpected. This is your typical, color-by-numbers film that tried to hit the lowest common denominator. I love movies that are for kids but appeal to parents as well, but this is just a bad movie. It was so stupid and so silly.

As I mentioned, I really like The Rock, but he needs to fire his agent. Why does he continue to do these stupid children's movies? I understand that he thinks he works well because he's the unlikely choice, but it is enough. It is time for The Rock to make some tough action movies- and ensure they are good movies, too. The Rock is, without a doubt, an entertainer. He is so charismatic on screen, and I truly believe he has some real acting ability. Sadly, this film is so dumb that he wasn't able to showcase any of that. He just appears silly, and his performance suffers greatly.

The rest of the cast isn't much better. I usually like Ashley Judd, but she was quite bad in the film. She looked puffy and terrible (sorry, but it is true), and it felt like she was sleepwalking through this film. She had to know she was making a big piece of crap, and her part was almost completely worthless. Stephen Merchant was also a very poor casting choice. He might be a talented writer, but his acting is weak. He is so creepy looking and odd that I never liked his character, and he had an important part. The film was really hurt by this major miscasting. They needed someone with a little presence and a bit of chemistry with Johnson. They got neither in Merchant. I did like the casting of Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal (where has he been?), but the dialogue is so bad that neither of them really add to the movie, besides the improvement that comes from the sheer power of their presence.

One of the biggest flaws of the film is that Dwayne Johnson's character is completely unlikable. I understand the film is really a story of redemption, of a man biased against dreams because his own dreams were so thoroughly crushed. However, the movie goes to great lengths to make sure we know how bad Johnson's character is. The movie goes way over the top. We have his hockey player saying absolutely soul-crushing things to little kids, to fairies without wings, and overall, appearing as a completely unsympathetic character. How are we supposed to care about him when we don't even like him? This was a huge flaw. This story worked for The Rock in The Game Plan, but it doesn't work here.

I am going to try to give some positives. I suppose I can appreciate the imaginativeness of the whole tooth fairy world, even though this is not especially original. There was a good deal of imagination that went into this. I appreciated seeing Billy Crystal end his long absence on screen (although I wish he picked a better film to appear in). There were a few funny moments, even though these are buried deep in the cheesiest, corniest dialogue and events of all time. This movie badly needed restraint and patience. I know I said I was going to be positive, but there just aren't very many.

I am sure little kids who don't know any better will probably enjoy this movie. That is a good thing, so the film deserves some credit for that. However, parents will probably hate this movie because it is so soul-crushingly stupid. I really hope The Rock learns from this, fires his agent, and tries to resurrect his stalling career. I don't think I could watch another film like this- I mean it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 4.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Game Plan, Planet 51, Race to Witch Mountain, Get Smart