The Master of Disguise

i'm in my early 30s and i thought it was funny. it's certainly not on par with the brilliant comedies made by monty python, but it's much better than 95% of the PG-13 garbage that continues to be released.

it was refreshing to see a PG comedy that wasn't centered around children. i really liked the gammy num nums disguise, and i wish they had been able to work the Mayor Maynot disguise in the movie along with the painting guy. thankfully they were both on the DVD.

i've watched it twice now, and will watch it again. dana talked (on a DVD featurette) about how he originally wanted to make a mission impossible type comedy with the master of disguise being part of the team, so maybe he'll go to back to that for a sequel; although, it seems unlikely since the first seems to be rather unpopular.

6/10

I rarely comment on movies, but when I see one getting such a bad rap.... I rented this for my 2 kids ages 8 and 12, and watched it with them and my wife. We all enjoyed it, and my kids have watched it several times since. It is obvious from the get go that this is a "goofy" movie, and it succeeds greatly as such. You can see the gags coming, but that only adds to the anticipation, as the goofiness is delivered in spades. We all loved Turtleman, and many of the other nutty characters invented by Dana. It is so difficult to find a family movie that we all can enjoy, that is harmless fun, with no scariness, no mom getting killed (a la Disney), no kidnapping, etc, etc. Only wish there was a sequel!

Saturday. I'm feeling awful. We go to a movie. Okay, my parents go off and see "Austin Powers 3" (BIIIIG mistake) and my little sister and I go and see Mike Myer's scrawny little blond buddy, Dana Carvey. So far so good. Right. So the movie starts and I'm wondering if we wondered into Harry Potter, with the candles and everything, but it wasn't, because I don't think Brent Spiner was in Harry Potter. But it starts- and it goes- for quite a bit, and I wonder if maybe I'd better go to sleep. Even when Carvey shows up, his Italian accent is SO IRRITATING I still wonder about dozing off, if that's even possible anymore. Not a great beginning by any means.

But wait...sun shining through the clouds a little? Well, my little sister's laughing anyway. So okay, Carvey's charming a snake. Well, he charms me if he's trying hard enough, so the snake's no big deal. So what? Okay...he's dressed as a turtle. Oh my gosh! He's a big turtle with a bald head and a pointy lip and he's bugging everybody and THE AUDIENCE IS GOING WILD!!! I'm sorry, but I have to stand in Carvey's defense. The main character is a bit of a one-joke, and the joke isn't all that good (keep away from 'funny names'). But the people he slides in as are funny! The turtle, the old lady, the, the, the, and my personal favorite, the British Fellow. I love the British, even if they do look like Dana Carvey and actually aren't British. The British Fellow was my favorite. And the fact is, after the movie got going, and except a few parts when Carvey was being Pistachio (one-jokio) the movie was very funny and good for an entertaining evening, especially if you're with somebody of a youthful mentality who laughs at every fart that comes off the screen (okay, so it was funny once, but they shouldn't have put it in every time). It was ridiculous and fairly badly-written and it wasn't the dialogue that was funny, but the characters! SNL's wild cat is on the movie screen again. Plus I was picturing Carvey teasing Mike Myers about it ("Wooh! Whupped YOUR butt, didn't I?") And frankly, the only un-enjoyable thing that evening was the idiot teenaged boys we were sitting next to. Every time there was one of the less tush-deficient ladies on screen, they were...well, making noises. I was driven to adopting my best Graham Chapman voice and saying "Shut up, you loopy brothel inmate!!!" Well, no, not really, I made that up. Anyway, the movie really brightened my day, and I laughed all the way home, causing great concern to my parents, who had only seen Austen Powers and therefore couldn't figure out what there was left to live for in the world.

I have to say, I'm a little dissapointed that everyone's ripping this movie to pieces. Granted... the story makes very little sense (this didn't seem to stop Austin Powers 3 from getting rave reviews), but you know what? So what? This film is a fast-paced kid's movie and there's only one reason to see it: Dana Carvey. He's absolutely brilliant. He creates one of his best characters ever (The Turtle) and does some of his best impersonations ever as well (Robert Shaw from "Jaws" was a personal highlight of mine.)

When I saw this film, everyone in the theater laughed the whole way through. This is a film that will completely go over your head if you try to intellectualize it. It's just good, dumb fun. It reminds me a bit of those really insane 60s comedies, except that it's for kids. I have a feeling that this film will come to be appreciated over time on video and tv.

I found this movie quite enjoyable, and certainly not deserving of the 3 point whatever rating it has. I don't know what most of the voters were expecting, it was obviously a family movie, and I appreciated that. There was no graphic violence, just some slapping, nor were there any sex references, nor any inappropriate jokes (the flatulence jokes were a bit overdone).

The movie was humorous, nothing gut busting, but it had enough funny parts to keep me smiling or chuckling the whole time. There were no real lulls or low points, just a nice even keel.

This movie is middle of the road. I give it a 5 out of 10.