Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable, Fun, Funny, and Entertaining, February 25, 2005
I bought this movie in 1998 when I had returned to the USA
and was single-parenting to my disabled son. He was a movie
buff, and I needed all the help I could get to keep him
entertained. This movie got a lot of mileage with him, and
I enjoyed it as well.
The story begins with one Dr. Katharine Lewis (Kirstie Alley)
a dentist's daughter who becomes a dentist when she grows up.
Her friend (Melanie Mayron) nags her about how she can't be
happy if she's not in a relationship, but Dr. Lewis pays no
attention to such talk. Then through an accident, Dr. Lewis
finds herself going into the Next World. Panicked by the
prospect that she is actually dead ("I've never been dead
before!"), she eventually meets the one who will be her
overseer in this transitional world that she learns is Limbo,
a rather humorless, pompous officer, Rogers (Lynn Redgrave)
who informs her that she must do community service to earn
her right to enter Heaven or else she will take an express
ride down on the Hellevator -- which the officer greatly
prefers and does not hide the fact. Accidentally, Dr. Lewis
chooses her duty, which turns out to be the Tooth Fairy. She
is told she must collect the teeth of the children each night
while they sleep but must never interact with any humans or
else she will forfeit her right to Heaven.
What Dr. Lewis does not expect is that any child who has not
lost all his baby teeth can still see her. When a child
wakes up and sees her, she finds herself in a jam. Before
long, she finds herself being a counselor and confidante to
the children, and the children start yanking their teeth on
purpose just to meet the Tooth Fairy. This news gets back to
Rogers, who is quick to warn her that it will cost her if she
persists. Of course, Dr. Lewis persists, thinking she can
somehow make a difference -- and ends up meeting a widower
with a child and falls in love. Eventually, she breaks the
ultimate rule and lets adults see her. She is taken back to
Limbo with the intention of sending her to Hell.
She recovers from her accident to learn that she has been
given another chance. She meets with the widower and child,
and sees that Rogers is there to warn her that she is still
being watched.
The movie is Disney entertainment with tons of clever lines
and a happy ending. Kirstie Alley is at her comic best. Lynn
Redgrave's performance as the dour Rogers is priceless. The
soundtrack has hits by the Beach Boys that give the film a
wackiness that works because the film is a comedy-fantasy
of an off-beat nature, not a serious film. For a movie that
is uncomplicated fun, this one is a good bet.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Had To Have It, May 17, 2000
By A Customer
My children loved this movie the first time they saw it, and each time it's on the Disney Channel, they clamour to see it again. They are now 8 and 11, a boy and a girl, and they both laugh and cry like it's the first time. I guess it has achieved a kind of "classic" status in our household. I know they will watch it repeatedly when we have it, it's a real "Feel Good" movie. It achieves a fine balance of humor and the resolution of an ethical dilemma in a smooth, tasteful manner (no sex, no violence, a la Disney); a rare feat that stories, either in cinema or the written word seldom accomplish. The plot is simple enough for young children, entertaining the young with slap-stick humor and predictable shticks, all the while laced with more mature references and the sweet sarcasm for which Kirstie Alley is so well known.Alley gives a wonderfully rich performance as a self-centered dentist who, after being fatally struck by a car (no blood or gore), finds herself in limbo between heaven and "down there." Her life is "played back", and is lacking in the attributes which typically earn one a more direct route to heaven. She is offered a chance to redeem herself but isn't too thrilled about the means through which this redemption is to be accomplished...until she runs into a boy who not only SEES her, not only on the physical plain, but sees her morally, sees her "goodness" and presumes to rely on her for sage advice. In the end, lessons are learned by all, love reigns supremeI feel good about buying it, and I feel good about what liking this movie enough to want to own it says about my children.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This movie's funny, heart-warming and full of Disney magic, January 4, 1999
By A Customer
From the very moment the movie begins--you are swept into this charming and funny story, a twist on the whole Tooth Fairy legend. It's script is smart and clever, completely holding your attention and making you laugh at the same time you are crying. Kirstie is great as the Tooth Fairy and Lynn Redgrave is excellent as the ominous Rogers. The whole family will enjoy--for all ages, not just kids! This one should have been in the movie theaters instead of TV because it's a heck of a lot better than most of the poopy we pay $8.50 for! Enjoy this--I know you will!
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