Who's Your Daddy??
It's difficult to imagine any comedy using a joke like "Who's your daddy?" as a recurring gag, but I guess when a movie is as forlorn as The Master of Disguise, anything can happen. Indeed, "Who's your daddy?" is drawn like a gun on its audience whenever things become awkward and uncomfortable, which happens too often unfortunately. Directed by Perry Andelin Blake, this messy attempt at ANYTHING funny was the longest 67 minutes of my life.
The introduction has a fairy-tale feel to it as we are told about a family of "disguise artists" that possess a genetic disposition for impersonating other people—a sort of "disguise mojo." The youngest Disguisey (That's the family surname), Pistachio (Dana Carvey) has no knowledge of the family history or their special powers. He is a really goofy but genuine character who is content being a waiter for his father, Fabrizzio (James Brolin) at the family's Italian restaurant. Pistachio's parents are kidnapped early in the movie by the greedy Devlin Bowman (Brent Spiner). Bowman wants to use Fabrizzio and his talents as a Master of Disguise to steal rare treasures, and it is then that Pistachio's sardonic grandfather (Harold Gould) turns up to teach him to use his gifts in order to save his parents.
Having seen Master of Disguise's clever ads and knowing that Adam Sandler produced it, I half-expected something from it. I ended up coming away empty handed and empty headed. Impressive make-up and convincing impersonations by Carvey try to "disguise" the fact that the film has no real plot and no conflict. I can't even remember a climax. Perhaps it happened when "Can't Touch This" started playing in the background. The movie plays like an hour-long stand up comedy routine with the supporting cast as mere props.
Spiner is unconvincing as a villain because he isn't given much to work with. His most evil deed is petty thievery! It's also hard to take him seriously when he is the proprietor of a series of flatulence gags throughout the movie.
Jennifer Esposito plays Pistachio's assistant, Jennifer. She's a single mom whose clumsy son adores Pistachio. Jennifer has a boyfriend in the beginning (Mark Devine), a macho hothead who hates children, but he manages to keep that hidden from her. He does however predictably display it in front of Pistachio. I guess you can see where this is going… I don't really have a problem with the idea of the nice guy getting the girl, but I would like it explained here. What exactly does she learn to love about Pistachio in 40 short minutes? I couldn't find anything. From his bowl haircut to his strange obsession with big-bottomed women, he's hardly what I would call a catch. Esposito is just filler here (like much of the cast) and doesn't really make any impact. Her performance is almost as vacuous as the one she gave in the equally loathsome Dracula 2000.
Carvey is not the comedian he was in his SNL heyday and gears his gags a bit more toward a family audience than his buddy Mike Myers. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but if I'm not going to get gross-out humor, I expect some good situation comedy. Carvey does believable impersonations of everybody from President Bush to Gammy Numnums, but that doesn't justify a full-length motion picture. At one point, when things are running out of steam, he channels a much more successful family film Shrek. Are we supposed to be impressed by this? Is this the best he's got? I can do an impression of Shrek, big deal.
You will see some cameos here, but don't let that excite you. They are pseudo-celebrities compared to the all-star line up in Goldmember. Jessica Simpson and Paula Abdul are hardly anything to raise a fuss over.
Whatever you do, don't stay for the gag reel. Not only does it drone on like a tedious chore, but it makes you realize what the movie could have been. Some of the gags with the most promise were left on the cutting room floor. After 10 minutes, Carvey comes across the screen asking why the audience hasn't left yet, since the movie is over. Good question.
The Master of Disguise is a master of nothing. It's a novice that can barely impersonate decent family fare. It's the worst film of the summer, the kind of Hollywood atrocity that is completely unforgivable.
The introduction has a fairy-tale feel to it as we are told about a family of "disguise artists" that possess a genetic disposition for impersonating other people—a sort of "disguise mojo." The youngest Disguisey (That's the family surname), Pistachio (Dana Carvey) has no knowledge of the family history or their special powers. He is a really goofy but genuine character who is content being a waiter for his father, Fabrizzio (James Brolin) at the family's Italian restaurant. Pistachio's parents are kidnapped early in the movie by the greedy Devlin Bowman (Brent Spiner). Bowman wants to use Fabrizzio and his talents as a Master of Disguise to steal rare treasures, and it is then that Pistachio's sardonic grandfather (Harold Gould) turns up to teach him to use his gifts in order to save his parents.
Having seen Master of Disguise's clever ads and knowing that Adam Sandler produced it, I half-expected something from it. I ended up coming away empty handed and empty headed. Impressive make-up and convincing impersonations by Carvey try to "disguise" the fact that the film has no real plot and no conflict. I can't even remember a climax. Perhaps it happened when "Can't Touch This" started playing in the background. The movie plays like an hour-long stand up comedy routine with the supporting cast as mere props.
Spiner is unconvincing as a villain because he isn't given much to work with. His most evil deed is petty thievery! It's also hard to take him seriously when he is the proprietor of a series of flatulence gags throughout the movie.
Jennifer Esposito plays Pistachio's assistant, Jennifer. She's a single mom whose clumsy son adores Pistachio. Jennifer has a boyfriend in the beginning (Mark Devine), a macho hothead who hates children, but he manages to keep that hidden from her. He does however predictably display it in front of Pistachio. I guess you can see where this is going… I don't really have a problem with the idea of the nice guy getting the girl, but I would like it explained here. What exactly does she learn to love about Pistachio in 40 short minutes? I couldn't find anything. From his bowl haircut to his strange obsession with big-bottomed women, he's hardly what I would call a catch. Esposito is just filler here (like much of the cast) and doesn't really make any impact. Her performance is almost as vacuous as the one she gave in the equally loathsome Dracula 2000.
Carvey is not the comedian he was in his SNL heyday and gears his gags a bit more toward a family audience than his buddy Mike Myers. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but if I'm not going to get gross-out humor, I expect some good situation comedy. Carvey does believable impersonations of everybody from President Bush to Gammy Numnums, but that doesn't justify a full-length motion picture. At one point, when things are running out of steam, he channels a much more successful family film Shrek. Are we supposed to be impressed by this? Is this the best he's got? I can do an impression of Shrek, big deal.
You will see some cameos here, but don't let that excite you. They are pseudo-celebrities compared to the all-star line up in Goldmember. Jessica Simpson and Paula Abdul are hardly anything to raise a fuss over.
Whatever you do, don't stay for the gag reel. Not only does it drone on like a tedious chore, but it makes you realize what the movie could have been. Some of the gags with the most promise were left on the cutting room floor. After 10 minutes, Carvey comes across the screen asking why the audience hasn't left yet, since the movie is over. Good question.
The Master of Disguise is a master of nothing. It's a novice that can barely impersonate decent family fare. It's the worst film of the summer, the kind of Hollywood atrocity that is completely unforgivable.
