The Master of Disguise (2002)

Director:

Perry Andelin Blake

Writers (WGA):

Dana Carvey (written by) &
Harris Goldberg (written by)

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Tagline:

He can get into any disguise... getting out is another story.

Plot:

An Italian waiter fights off a criminal mastermind with his inherited powers of disguise.

Plot Keywords:

Slap | Critically Bashed | Pop Up Book | Mona Lisa | Mask

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Dana Carvey	...	Pistachio Disguisey
Brent Spiner	...	Devlin Bowman
Jennifer Esposito	...	Jennifer Baker
Harold Gould	...	Grandfather Disguisey
James Brolin	...	Fabbrizio Disguisey
Austin Wolff	...	Barney Baker
Edie McClurg	...	Mother Disguisey
Maria Canals-Barrera	...	Sophia (as Maria Canals)
Robert Machray	...	Texas Man
Michael Bailey Smith	...	Henchman
Rachel Lederman	...	Texas Wife
Vincent Riverside	...	Henchman
Mark Devine	...	Trent
Kenan Thompson	...	Kenan
Jay Johnston	...	Rex

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language and some crude humor.

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | UK:PG (cut) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G | Denmark:7 | Germany:6 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | USA:PG (certificate #38420)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

The role of Pistachio Disguisey was originally offered to Jim Carrey

Goofs:

Factual errors: One of the precious items depicted in the film was the Apollo 11 lunar module, which landed the first humans on the moon. The bottom half of Apollo 11 (the Descent Module) is still sitting on the moon today - it was for descent only. The top half, the Ascent Module, was jettisoned into space before the astronauts descended back to earth. So it is impossible for the actual Apollo 11 to be stolen as depicted in the film.

Quotes:

Jennifer: ...And now I believe that you can do anything.
Pistachio Disguisey: Ah! That's very nice but not exactly true, I... I can't turn mud into oatmeal, for example, I can't build a spaceship that will travel to Pluto...

Movie Connections:

References Die Hard 2 (1990)

Soundtrack:

Chariots Of Fire

a comedy totally devoid of laughs

`The Master of Disguise' raises – and indeed answers – the question of whether or not it is possible for a movie that bills itself as a `comedy' to run from beginning to end without offering a single funny moment. (The answer, by the way, is, yes, it can be done). Thus, while his `Wayne's World' partner, Mike Myers, is out there making both a fortune and an indelible impression on pop culture with his `Austin Powers' franchise, poor Dana Carvey is reduced to appearing in disastrous vehicles like this one. Now don't get me wrong. I love Carvey's work on `Saturday Night Live,' especially his impersonations of many of the major political figures of our time. However, Carvey's manic, over-the-top style is, apparently, a whole lot easier to take in small doses. Watching him mug, cavort and pratfall his way through a laughless script for the better part of an hour and a half ultimately becomes as wearying as it is embarrassing to watch.

Stealing much of its concept from `The Mask,' `The Master of Disguise' involves Carvey in some nonsense about a family of crime fighters who are able to magically don all sorts of disguises at a moment's notice. This allows the filmmakers to enlist the aid of a number of real life celebrities who end up making cameo appearances, in the misguided belief, most likely, that this was going to be a fun, entertaining movie comedy. Boy, were they misled. Actually, I have rarely seen a film in which the jokes, `bits' and setups fall as consistently flat as they do here. To get a general notion of the level of humor in this film, please note that the running gag involves one character's tendency towards uncontrollable flatulence. It isn't funny the first time it happens and, believe me, it is even less funny the fourth, fifth (or is it sixth?) time around.

In addition to the celebrity walk-ons (Bo Derek, Jesse Ventura, Paula Abdul, among others), Harold Gould, James Brolin, Jennifer Espinoto, Brent Spiner and Edie McClurg are all good sports who deserve better material than what they have been handed here. So is Carvey when you come right down to it. But then Carvey wrote the screenplay, so he HAS to be a good sport about it. After all, he handed HIMSELF this material. I hope the other actors trapped in this mess at least got paid well for their endeavors.

The only good news is that, in the closing credits, we get to see many of the scenes, lines and characters that were, apparently, filmed, then dropped from the final product. One can only imagine how much worse the film would have been had they all been allowed to stay in.