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

`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.

Sheer genius cannot even begin to properly address this cinematic achievement, to call it any less is an insult. Dana Carvey, on the surface, plays a bumbling Italian waiter who inherits the power of disguise; however, if you dig a bit deeper & peel away the layers, you'll find a motion picture which is a scathing, yet biting social political statement on society as a whole. One cannot begin to hopefully comprehend or decipher all the psychological & stereotypical boundaries this film breaks. It is a surprise to find this film in mainstream theaters as a film on this level & caliber would normally only be found in the finest arthouse theaters. If you plan on seeing Master of Disguise, I suggest keeping your afternoon free, as after viewing, no after witnessing it, you'll need the rest of the afternoon to invest in deciphering the dense narrative. Admittingly some of the jokes were over my head, but all truly great comedies take a bit of effort for comprehension. Only for serious film viewers & students of the artform as a whole.

...but it wasn't. It had cameos almost as good as "Goldmember". It has a babe as babe-esque as "Men in Black II." And though it did have a running fart gag, it wasn't as gagging as Fat Bastard's. It was...well, restrained. Dana Carvey wasn't doing Jerry Lewis. His character actually was trainable and actually could take care of himself, push come to shove. And that was worth an extra point up the rating scale.

I loved this movie!! It was so cute!! I had wanted to see it ever since I first saw the trailer for it. I am a big fan of Dana Carvey and I thought he was great in this movie. I can understand why most of you people didn't like it because he made this especially for his children who are under 13. I loved his little Italian accent and I thought he looked so cute. I went with my dad (who's in his 40's) and my 10 year-old sister and they both laughed! My sister was laughing out loud and there were some parts that I laughed so hard tears came to my eyes. I think I laughed the hardest at the Turtle Guy part. I really liked the guy from India who was charming the snake. I loved the voice he used. Yeah, this movie ain't nothing like the work he did on Saturday Night Live but he does use his talent here and I just enjoyed it. I laughed and that's what Dana wanted the people to do when they saw this movie. It was so great. Oh, and I will own this movie when it comes out on video!!!