Tooth Fairy

In this featherweight, family-oriented comedy, Derek Thompson (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) stars as an arrogant, aggressive former NHL hockey player—now relegated to the minor leagues—who is known as “The Tooth Fairy” thanks to his penchant for knocking out opponents' bicuspids and molars. Continuing his destructive cynicism off the ice, Derek blithely informs his girlfriend Carly's (Ashley Judd) young daughter that the real tooth fairy is just a fantasy. Naturally, this infuriates Lily the Fairy-in-Chief (Julie Andrews), who magically punishes Derek for “first-degree murder of fantasy” by turning his nickname into an actual position for two weeks, or until he learns to believe in dreams. Presto! Derek is prancing about in a pink tutu, ballerina slippers, and tights, with huge wings and a wand (unfortunately, that's as funny as the film gets). Training Derek in stealthy nighttime tooth-retrieval are a wingless caseworker (Stephen Merchant) and a wizard (Billy Crystal) who supplies accessories such as invisibility spray, shrinking paste, amnesia dust, and cat repellent. Sluggishly directed by Michael Lembeck and sloppily written, Tooth Fairy is a disappointing film. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Tooth Fairy Training Center” interactive feature (21 min.), a “Fairy-oke” sing-along (4 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an intro and audio commentary by director Michael Lembeck, behind-the-scenes segments (39 min. total), deleted scenes (9 min.), and a gag reel (3 min.), as well as bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an uninspired film.] (S. Granger)