Compared to recent kids comedies like The Spy Next Door and the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks film, The Tooth Fairy is certainly better than I expected. The big difference between this film and the other two is that it does not seem to completely be running on autopilot. There's some imagination on display, a bright cast who seem to be having a lot of fun with the material, and even a few genuine laughs. I can't quite recommend it to anyone over the age of 12, but I must be honest when I say I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would.

The film stars Dwayne Johnson, whose charisma and screen presence seems well suited for a kids movie. He plays Derek, a former professional hockey player who was sent back to the minors after an injury. The injury has long healed, but he's stayed put, giving up on his dreams. This has made him somewhat bitter and cynical at the world. Despite this, Derek has found fame in the minors as being "The Tooth Fairy", as his fans have dubbed him. He's called this, because he specializes in powerful body blows that, yes, knock the teeth out of his opponents. He's good at playing for the crowd, and even has his own personal recliner chair in the penalty box. Off the ice, Derek is dating a single mom named Carly (Ashley Judd) with two kids. One fateful night while taking care of the kids, he tells Carly's six-year-old daughter Tess (Destiny Whitlock) that the Tooth Fairy she's anxiously waiting for to leave money under her pillow does not exist.

This angers Carly, and someone else unexpected as well. We learn that the Head Fairy (Julie Andrews) up in Fairy Land, who is in charge of all the Tooth Fairies in the world, has had enough of Derek shattering the hopes and dreams of children with his cynicism. She summons him up to Fairy Land, where he is sentenced to be an actual Tooth Fairy himself until he can learn to be a better person. This is where the movie starts to have a little fun with itself. Derek is assigned a case worker named Tracy (Stephen Merchant), who dreams of being a tooth fairy himself, but since he doesn't have wings, he has to settle for supervising Derek in his new job. There's a lot that goes into being a Tooth Fairy, it turns out. They have special equipment that can be used to avoid detection (amnesia dust, invisible spray, devices that can scare away pesky cats or dogs), which are provided by a fellow fairy named Jerry (Billy Crystal). Merchant and Crystal are both naturally skilled comedians, and they get to slip in some funny bits of dialogue, most of which I imagine were improvised on the set.

The film somewhat resembles the tone and structure of The Santa Clause films with Tim Allen, so I was not surprised to learn that director Michael Lembeck worked on both sequels for that movie. Still, I admit I had a little bit more fun with The Tooth Fairy. One thing that helps is that star Dwayne Johnson seems willing to go to just about any lengths to get a laugh. Don a pink tutu, put on a pair of frilly fairy wings, run around pretending that he's six inches tall while trying to avoid a hungry cat, or play tricks on his fellow hockey players with the help of his invisible spray. Kids will likely find this stuff hilarious, and adults in the audience will smile. The cast that has been gathered is also a little bit brighter than the norm. It's always welcome to see Julie Andrews in a movie, even if she is a little under used here. Stephen Merchant gets off plenty of one liners that fly over kids' heads, but adults will laugh at. And Billy Crystal's introduction scene gets some of the biggest genuine laughs in the film. The movie's obviously trying to appeal to both sides of its own audience, without coming across as being inappropriate for the younger viewers.

Too bad the conventional plot has to keep on getting in the way. While it never becomes unbearable or sappy, the scenes concerning Derek softening and warming up to Carly's two kids seem rather uninspired compared to the scenes that do work. Some parts of the movie seem to be clever and sly, while others seem to be written on total autopilot. The fact that there are five writers credited to the screenplay (the script's apparently been floating around Hollywood for almost 20 years, and was originally set to star Arnold Schwarzenegger) explains this. There's just such a huge difference in the quality of the writing from scene to scene. Whenever Johnson and Merchant are trading barbs and insults with each other, the dialogue is lively and fun. The dialogue whenever Johnson is talking to the kids or to his on-screen girlfriend seem to have been written by committee. It doesn't quite drag the film down, but it's disappointing none the less.
Anyone looking for something pleasant and inoffensive to take the kids to will find it with The Tooth Fairy. Heck, the parents might smile more than they thought they would. As long as that's all you want, you'll find what you need. The movie is gentle, funny in parts, and would probably get a rave review from me if I were 20 years younger.

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