The Tooth Fairy
GRADE: C+
Former W.W.E. wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been making appearances in movies and TV shows since the ‘90s. He played the Scorpion King in 2001’s “The Mummy Returns” and even appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in 2009, featured in a sketch as “The Rock Obama.” In his most recent film, “The Tooth Fairy,” Johnson plays a macho hockey player, Derek Thompson, who gets a summons to serve as a tooth fairy because of his disbelief in mythical creatures.
As a minor league hockey player, Thompson is infamously known as “The Tooth Fairy” for knocking out the teeth of opposing players on the ice. His girlfriend, Carly (Ashley Judd), is upset with him for almost revealing to her daughter that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. In the middle of a sleepless night, Johnson sprouts a pair of fairy wings and receives a summons to the land of tooth fairies, where he is trained for two weeks of “tooth fairy duty.” From there, he embarks upon a great adventure with shrinking powder, invisible spray and amnesia powder in tow.
Judging by the trailers that have been shown everywhere this past month as well as the overall plot of the film, one might think that “The Tooth Fairy” would be a complete and total bomb. Who would pay $10 to see Johnson fly around in a tutu for 90 minutes making horrible jokes targeted at 10-year-old viewers? It probably won’t be nominated for any Oscars this year (if it is, the cinema industry is eminently tanking), but “The Tooth Fairy” does have its moments of witty comedy and family fun entertainment.
One of the main characters in the film is Tracy (Stephen Merchant), a social worker fairy who helps Johnson’s character learn the ropes of the tooth fairy business. Tracy has a serious case of “wing envy,” (he has a gene that makes him unable to sprout them), but yearns to one day become a wingless tooth fairy. While training by Johnson, this tall, lanky and freaky-looking creature ends up punching the head off a cardboard kid and shrieking at a cardboard dog that he thinks is a dinosaur. Though it may not sound hysterical on paper, his awkwardness and subtle actions are sure to tickle anyone’s funny bone.
Unquestionably, the best thing about “The Tooth Fairy” is its short comedic moments. Sure, there is an excellent moral lesson (for the younger crowds) that you should always follow your dreams and believe anything is possible. But without Johnson’s clever lines and the sarcastic insanity of Billy Crystal (who plays a crazy basement-dwelling fairy), the film would be miserable for older viewers and viewed as just another piece of fluff on the shelf of painful kids’ movies.
“The Tooth Fairy” won’t change your life or make you believe that anything is possible, but it will certainly satisfy your guilty pleasure needs for cheesy, brainless, low-budget films. If you’re babysitting young children in the near future, turn off the television and take them to see it. The kids will be giggling the whole way through, and they’ll be oh-so-excited the next time they lose a tooth.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
