The Tooth Fairy

There is absolutely no reason any of my normal readers will see this movie, unless I've picked up a few soccer moms I did not know about (by the way mini vans don't break a deal, leave your number in the comments section). I still have an obligation to grade this movie fairly, and for what this movie is, a family flick, it's not too bad.

Dwayne Johnson stars as a brawny hockey player which gets the nickname tooth fairy by knocking out molars. After a shoulder injury he is dumped to the minor leagues where he is content enough to spend his days as an enforcer.

Johnson has seemed to have found his niche in family comedies. He has a winning smile, decent comedic timing, and is fine with making fun of himself. He was the same way in the WWF and the skills and fan interactions he learned there seemed to have helped in his development in family friendly films.

Billy Crystal, who takes an uncredited role, and Seth MacFarlane each have bit part supplying Johnson with the supplies he needs. I have always been a big fan of Billy Crystal and will continue to be till my dieing days. His comedic timing is still great and he more or less reprises one of his best cameos of all time with Miracle Max. MacFarlane obviously just went on a huge bender so needed a little extra pocket change, one days work not too bad and hes enjoyable.

Julie Andrews is truly a great talent and I don't think I have it in me to say anything mean about the woman. She is charming in the role.

But one of the best talents in the film is relatively unrecognized talents of Stephen Merchant. This tall, British talent is one of Ricky Gervais' best kept secrets. He has a very charming goofy attitude about him and some of his physical comedy stuff is the most laughable points in the movie. As Gervais gains momentum I think Merchant will too. If you've never seen the show 'Extras' check the it out, especially the one with Kate Winslet.

The film is sincere. It has a nice little message to it. But its best moments are when Johnson has one of the aforementioned names to bounce off of. The kids will like this one and that's who the movie is for. D+

Extraordinary Measures

The debut movie for CBS Films probably belonged on their network or even more likely on a sister network but this got the big screen bump instead. Brendan Fraser plays John Crowley a man who risks it all to bet on a brilliant but misunderstood scientist played by Harrison Ford. I even feel cheesy writing it. It has all the tools for an uplifting story but nothing seems to be executed right.

It could be the acting. There is no argument that Fraser's star has dwindled a bit since the beginning of the 2000's (by the way, what do we call last decade or this decade for that manner) so maybe he has to take what is given to him. Recently that's been softer scripts meant for family viewing but he is really not a correct fit in this role. He interacts well with the kids but he doesn't expresses grief or suffering well. When the film shifts themes midway through he does a much better job.

Rumor has it that right before every single take in the movie Ford was given a slight ball tap which explains why he seemed annoyed and angry during most of the movie. The character is given a softer side at some point showing that he is doing this for the right reasons but it all seems forced. For his efforts Harrison Ford got an EP credit for the film and for the first time since Return of the Jedi his name was not at the top of the credits.

Maybe its the writing. The story is there and we know the actors can be better. Keri Russel has certainly played characters in the past with a lot of emotional baggage that are forced to put on a brave face (read: Felicity) and certainly the two leads can be better. The writing buries itself in legal battles and shows the business behind the curing of disease instead of seeing parents on the edge. All the characters seem to be one dimensional and the interactions with others are the same throughout. The dialogues aren't poignant they're formulaic.

Maybe it's the music selection. They spent most of the time focusing on the choices of what Ford needed to listen to while he was pissing people off. And if you didn't buy this Lifetime movie of the week feel they include Clapton's "Change the World." While I like Clapton, could they pick a more cliche song? The more emotional points in the movie could have hit harder had the soundtrack of the movie played a little stronger. The best soundtracks seem to be the ones you don't know happened but can't get out of your head. With this movie it was noticeable that the soundtrack was lacking and after the movie I was still humming the soundtrack to "Next to Normal."

Even the editing was off. The cuts in the movie were jarring, and when the cut is noticeable you know something is wrong. While none of the words are cut off, it seems like they make their shot changes by cutting off the last exhale of the words which is usually done in newscasts when the rest of the shot is unusable.

But the blame needs to be put on the director Tom Vaughan. He was asked to pull it all together and instead came out with a movie where everything seemed a little off. The movie had all the potential to be something decent, but when it came down to crunch time the effort all around seemed kind of phoned in. D-/F+

Next to Normal

I have always considered myself a movie guy, but when the opportunity arrives I love to go see a story on the stage. And being a guy who also can't help but sing in the shower and loves bad catchy music my love of musicals is not really a stretch. So while this is even further away from an expert opinion than the movie reviews I dish out I'm gonna give this show a shot. Sorry to any Broadway divas or their hags that I offend in the process of this review.

Next to Normal is a TONY award winning show and there is little doubt why after seeing it. The story deals with mental disease, the treatments and the effects it has on the patient and those close to the patient. The mother Diana (played by Alice Ripley) suffers from bipolar disorder but as her psychologist says early on there are other symptoms as well they call it bipolar just to label the disease.

The family includes the supportive husband Dan (J. Robert Spencer), the perfect son Gabe (Aaron Tveit), and their hyper-intelligent daughter Natalie (Jennifer Damiano). The character all balance well with Diana each with their own behaviors and traits. Dan believes he can get back to better days with the treatment and shows unconditional love and devotion to his wife. Natalie can not seem to get the attention she wants from her parents as they try and deal with each other. And Gabe keeps his mother happy while causing stress to the rest of them. The show is rounded out by two more characters including the quirky stoner Henry (Adam Chandler-Berat) who plays Natalie's love interest and Alice's doctors (both played by Louis Hobson)

Alice Ripley is amazing in her portrayal of a woman trying to survive her own thoughts. The character seems to possess almost as many different feelings as there are songs in the show, which for those keeping count at home that's well over 40 different numbers, Ripley shifts almost too easily from each emotion leaving little doubt as to why she received the TONY for best actress in a musical.

With such a small cast it may be difficult to connect to any of the characters a problem that I had. But it is easy to see how touching the show can be as there was barely a dry eye in the theater especially if you know someone who suffers from a mental disease. My lack of connection may also be due to my seat in the balcony causing me to shift back and forth through much of the first act to catch a glimpse. The show is done on a three-tier stage and ever inch is used. Which is why it was so easy to make a better connection once I could sit back any enjoy the view from the mezzanine.

Make no mistake that this show is a modern day opera. With over 40 songs there has to be more lyrics than dialogue. Each character seems to be given songs based on their personality. While none of the singer's blew me away, the rock infused musical has powerful melodies and beautiful lyrics.

In an era where Broadway would rather take a movie script and develop it for the stage it is wonderful to see an original show which runs the gamete of emotion. The show has the ability to leave you speechless as the music is the only thing left running through your head. To those who have not seen or heard about the show here is a link to two of the most popular songs "You Don't Know" and "Superboy and the Invisible Girl"

Leap Year

In case you were wondering, you already know how this one ends.

Leap year is the story of a young woman going to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th. Mayhem ensues.

Anna played by Amy Adams is an uptight real estate exhibitor. Her tour guide Declan, played by Matthew Goode, is a laid-back scruffy Irish bartender. The story itself has more or less been done before and it was handled much better in the hands of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night - it just happens to be one of 3 movies that have won the Academy's five major awards.

Both actor's do a fine job. Adams is charming as usual. With all the cutesy roles one tends to forget how nice a body she has, nothing special, but nice. Matthew Goode, from recent Watchmen fame, fits quite nicely into his role. It is easy to tell why he was named one of the UK's rising stars. Individually they preform well in their roles, but there is little chemistry between the two as both characters seem to banter back and forth about the inevitability of the script.

Very little of this movie was shot in Ireland; but wait, how do you know? There is a very large distinction between the actors and the backgrounds in the shots with historic Irish landmark. This is truly surprising in an era of Avatar and the Lord of the Rings Series. You can create entire new worlds to feel natural but one Irish backdrop displaces you from the movie.

There is a new era of Rom-Coms featuring organized women in powerful positions, shown the light by grungy blue-collar men. Just because studios know their target audience will probably eat it up doesn't mean effort shouldn't be put in. Wait for a gloomy weekend, I'm sure USA will be showing an Amy Adams movie marathon soon enough. F