The Rock Ridiculous Comedy On Streaming Is Almost Unbelievable
Before Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson became one of the highest-paid actors in the world, he starred in a little film called Tooth Fairy, which can currently be streamed on Max. Though this fantasy comedy family film performed quite poorly on the critical front, the general consensus is that The Rock‘s charisma alone was enough to allow this film to perform relatively well at the box office upon its release in 2010.
On paper, Tooth Fairy‘s concept had wings, but like most family movies with committee-written scripts, it failed to launch and land in a way that’s completely satisfying, but is still worth watching with your kids if you need a break from Bluey.
Of all the movies starring The Rock, it’s evident that Tooth Fairy isn’t his finest hour, but we’re okay with that. Despite the film’s 17 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus is that if the screenplay was better, then the film would score much higher.
We want you to close your eyes, and clear your mind for a second, and imagine the following scenario: you’re a 6-year-old, and you just lost your first tooth. Your parents tell you that if you put your newly extracted tooth under your pillow and go to sleep, then the tooth fairy will give you money.
But when you wake up, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is standing over your bed, fumbling a bag of fairy dust while cursing under his breath, and suddenly you’re stuck inside what you can only gather is a sleep-paralysis induced nightmare in which The Rock is the subject of your terror.
Joking aside, the scenario described above isn’t too far off from what we can only describe as a fantastical fever dream starring The Rock that’s not without its charm.
In Tooth Fairy, The Rock plays a minor league ice hockey player named Derek Thompson, who more often than not spends time in the penalty box after beating up his opponents on the ice during game play.
Ironically enough, he earned himself the nickname “Tooth Fairy” for his uncanny ability to beat the enamel out of the mouths of weaker players. He even shouts “you can’t handle the tooth!” as a catchphrase.
On paper, Tooth Fairy‘s concept had wings, but like most family movies with committee-written scripts, it failed to launch and land in a way that’s completely satisfying, but is still worth watching with your kids if you need a break from Bluey.
But off the rink, The Rock’s Derek Thompson doesn’t necessarily have his life together. Thompson finds himself at odds with his girlfriend, Carly (Ashley Judd), after telling her 6-year-old daughter, Tess, that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real.
It doesn’t take long before Thompson finds a magical summons under his pillow and is whisked away to the magical world of tooth fairies to be punished for being a “dream crusher,” which becomes his new nickname. In a scene that’s clearly a nod to Tim Allen‘s The Santa Clause, the inner workings of the complex, yet meticulously organized tooth fairy union is revealed to us, and the operation is impressive to say the least.
From this point forward, we have to get used to The Rock wearing a pair of fairy wings and breaking into houses at night because he has to serve a two-week sentence as a tooth fairy. It’s during this time that Thompson tries to balance his newfound responsibilities as the tooth fairy while also winning over Carly, Tess, and Carly’s 14-year-old son, Randy.
For your next family movie night, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Tooth Fairy on Max is sure to please the entire family.
As cliché many of these scenes prove themselves to be, there’s no denying that The Rock knew the assignment, and had a lot of fun pretending to shrink down to the size of a common housefly, and blasting family pets with amnesia inducing fairy dust so he could make a clean escape.
Tooth Fairy isn’t just a one-trick pony, however. There is an emotional through line in the form of The Rock’s Thompson teaching Randy how to play guitar for an upcoming talent show, and his attempts to win Randy over are not without their missteps.
At this point in the film, it’s also worth noting that Thompson had to re-up his fairy supplies through a shady black market deal, and he starts to lose control of the situation when his magic doesn’t work the way its supposed to. Since we’re talking about a movie that’s geared toward families, everything resolves in a way that you would expect, but there’s plenty of family-friendly laughter along the way that will keep you engaged.
Of all the movies starring The Rock, it’s evident that Tooth Fairy isn’t his finest hour, but we’re okay with that. Despite the film’s 17 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus is that if the screenplay was better, then the film would score much higher. That is to say, The Rock’s overall performance was solid, but he didn’t really have much to work with either. If you think you can “handle the tooth,” you might want to log into your Max account, and give this one a chance.
