Review: The Master of Disguise
Genre: Comedy
MPAA rating: PG-13 (for mild language and some crude humor)
Running time: 1:33
Release date: 2002
Cast: Dana Carvey, Jesse Ventura, Bo Derek, Mark Devine, Jennifer Esposito
Directed by: Perry Andelin Blake

"The Master of Disguise" is targeted at parents who are searching for a late summer comedy but who are wary of exposing their children — and themselves — to the gross-out spectacle of "Austin Powers in Goldmember." In this considerably tamer tale, Dana Carvey — Mike Myers' old comedy partner from the Wayne's World days on "Saturday Night Live" — plays Pistachio Disguisey, an apprentice secret agent learning to harness his family's magical powers of disguise to rescue his kidnapped parents.

Unfortunately, however, most kids would probably enjoy themselves more at a grosser alternative. "The Master of Disguise" is full of jokes, but just about the only one that provokes widespread giggles from the short-pants set is the villain's tendency to have his maniacal laughing fits cut short by inadvertent toots of flatulence.

Carvey's career peaked a decade ago, when his Church Lady character made "isn't that special?" a catchphrase, his impressions of the first President Bush and H. Ross Perot won an Emmy, and he and Myers had a hit when they brought "Wayne's World" to the big screen. At the time he seemed to be the greater talent: Although Myers came up with the Wayne's World concept and wrote much of the material, it was Carvey's portrayal of sidekick Garth that drew the most laughs.

But little has been heard from Carvey since he launched a short-lived TV show in the mid-`90s, while Myers has ridden his Austin Powers concept to new levels of wealth and stardom." The Master of Disguise" is a reminder of how good Carvey once was at short sketch portrayals, but also a showcase of his limited ability for sustained comedy.

The story itself is weak: Throughout history, the Disguiseys have used their unique abilities to protect the world's treasures from theft. Pistachio must learn to harness that power from his Obi-Wan-like grandfather after an evil Italian collector forces his father to steal the world's most precious objects, almost all of which, oddly, turn out to be American — the Constitution, the Liberty Bell and the moon lander.

This was clearly cobbled together to give Carvey as many chances as possible to perform different characters (and to sprinkle in some wooden celebrity cameos who are supposed to be Pistachio "in disguise"). Many of these are ethnic stereotypes, such as an Indian snake charmer and the Italian Pistachio main character; some are bizarre fantasy, such as a kid-pleasing turtle-man; and some are just sad, such as a return to tired material in George W. Bush, inspiring unflattering comparisons to Carvey's departed glory days and to W.'s more famed impressionario, Will Ferrell.

The real highlight, in fact, comes after the movie itself is over. In an extended credit sequence that keeps going long after they've run out of assistant key grips to name, Carvey romps through a series of impressions that didn't make it into the film, outtakes, bloopers and a protracted midget battle. For a movie that's all about camouflage, this sketch comedy epilogue turns out to be its most creative disguise: a thin coating of humor slapped on an otherwise ponderous film.