The Master of Disguise

Dana Carvey spent a few years largely out of sight after a heart operation went wrong, and his return to the big screen was 'The Master of Disguise', a family comedy he wrote with Harris Goldberg and that was produced by Happy Madison, Adam Sandler's company. It was directed by Perry Andelin Blake, who until then had worked as a production designer, and opened in American cinemas on 2 August 2002.

Carvey plays Pistachio Disguisey, a rather clumsy waiter at his father's (James Brolin) Italian restaurant who can't stop impersonating the customers. What he doesn't know is that he comes from a long line of masters of disguise who fight crime, or that his father hung up his disguises when Pistachio was a baby to keep the family out of danger.

Everything changes when Devlin Bowman (Brent Spiner), a villain his father put behind bars, gets out of prison, kidnaps his parents and forces his father to steal priceless historical artefacts. That's when Pistachio's grandfather (Harold Gould) turns up, lets him in on the family secret and gives him a crash course in the art of disguise, while Jennifer Esposito signs on as his assistant.

Edie McClurg plays Pistachio's mother, and Bo Derek, Kenan Thompson, Jessica Simpson and Jesse Ventura all turn up as themselves. It opened third at the US box office, behind 'Signs' and 'Austin Powers in Goldmember', and went on to make around 43 million dollars worldwide. Critics, on the other hand, buried it: on Rotten Tomatoes just one of its more than a hundred reviews is positive, and Bo Derek's cameo earned her a Razzie nomination for worst supporting actress.

• Adventure
• Comedy
• Family