In the highly plausible category of film ideas, Dwayne “no longer The Rock” Johnson stars as a tough guy minor league hockey player in Tooth Fairy.  That’s no so unrealistic considering he has acted as an athlete in many films.  The part that is a stretch is when Johnson’s character Derek Thompson is sentenced to be the tooth fairy for a week as penance for a bad deed (presumably made on the ice).  I’ll take a wild guess and say that he knocks somebody’s tooth (or teeth) out to receive said punishment.  Ashley Judd and Billy Crystal co-star in the comedy based on the tiny winged one.  It’s directed by long-time television Director Michael Lembeck, who is also responsible for helming the 2^nd and 3^rd portions of the big screen trilogy The Santa Clause, which starred Tim Allen.

Johnson, a former University of Miami football player, has had his share of successful films.  Cutting his acting chops on the stage that is known as professional wrestling, he signed the biggest first time acting payday ever for starring in The Scorpion King back in 2002, hauling in $5.5mm for his work.  As a spin-off of the successful Mummy franchise King earned $90mm domestically.  He has since broken the century mark stateside on two occasions, leading 2007′s The Game Plan to $110mm and supporting Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway in 2008′s Get Smart which has hit $130mm domestically.

One, Two, The Rock is coming for you.

With The Santa Clause 2 and 3 earning $139mm and $84mm respectively, Lembeck has seen films hit before.  But Clause was an established entity after the success of the original pic earned $144mm in 1994, 8 years prior to his coming on board.  Both of his sequels earned less money and were more reviled by fans, seeing the original sequel at 5.5 on IMDB and the 3^rd entry with a dismal 3.8 IMDB rating.  Santa Clause 3 failed to deliver the goods in that regard.  Also, the writers of Fairy have some experience in the attempted comedy genre having penned the aptly titled Surviving Christmas, a movie you literally had to survive to make it through.  It earned only $11mm in the U.S. despite having a known star in Ben Affleck.

In my early estimation, I expect Tooth Fairy to skew more closely towards what the Game Plan did at the box office.  Johnson is becoming more acceptable in comedies, is a consistent name, and the Tooth Fairy is a recognized mythical legend.  I wish when I was a kid I would have found the type of coin that this film should make laying under my pillow.  The $1.25 I used to get for having one of my chompers missing pales in comparison to the receipts that this film will see.  Question is, will you want to see it?   You’ll get your chance around the holiday season.

Tooth Fairy aims for your mouth, in theaters on January 22nd.

By special “The Film Nest” guest contributor: Joseph Amaral (aka “JoeCoconut” in Comments section)

Race to Witch Mountain is yet another Hollywood remake or re-imagining (whatever you call these now), this time from Disney. I can go on and on about how I don’t like remakes, but this one doesn’t look half bad.

Grayed is good

Dwayne Johnson, who seems like he’s dropping “The Rock” from his name, stars as a Las Vegas cabby driver, Jack Bruno. While doing his daily rounds, he picks up two kids named Seth (Alexander Ludwig) and Sara (AnnaSophia Robb). Jack learns the kids are extraterrestrials and are being pursued by an association, which plans to exploit them for evil means. Carla Gugino, who plays Dr. Alex Friedman, is a washed up astrophysicist who is reduced to giving lectures on UFOs. Jack seeks Alex’s help to get the kids to Witch Mountain so they can return back to their spaceship.

I’ve always enjoyed the actor formally known as The Rock, because he has a certain good guy charisma, despite looking like he could knock you out with one punch. There’s really nothing to find negative about Johnson and I’m glad to see he’s branching into the family/comedy genre like Witch Mountain, Gridiron Gang, Get Smart and The Game Plan. After his first initial fame with action/adventure movies (Scorpion King, The Rundown, Walking Tall etc.), he could have easily taken the bait and gone down the path of your typical action star (Statham, Stallone, Schwarzenegger).  I think he fits quite comfortably with family movies and it doesn’t take away from his “tough guy” persona. AnnaSophia Robb, who plays Sara, was very good in Bridge to Tarabithia and I could see her having a promising career. Ciaran Hinds plays Burke, the head of the organization that’s after the kids. He was very solid playing the part of the Mossad agent in Spielberg’s Munich.  Andy Fickman, who also worked with Johnson in The Game Plan, directs this.

Shades of "Close Encounters" emerge

Race to Witch Mountain actually can trace is origins back to 1968. Alexander Key originally wrote it as a science fiction novel and Disney made it into a movie in 1975 called Escape to Witch Mountain. Two sequels followed, Return to Witch Mountain in 1978 and Beyond Witch Mountain in 1982. Race to Witch Mountain isn’t the first remake either. It was first remade as a TV movie in 1995 called Escape to Witch Mountain. Producers of the new version tried to change the formula of their remake by tweaking with the title. Ike Eisenmann, who played the male child alien in the original and its sequel, will actually be in this one, as a sheriff.  Kim Richards, who played the female child alien, will also be back, this time as a waitress.

This movie should be a hit with families, because it looks entertaining and has enough special effects to mesmerize any kid under 12. The movie will be released March 13th.