Daddy Day Care Review
by Robin Clifford (robin AT reelingreviews DOT com)May 14th, 2003
"Daddy Day Care"
When Charlie (Eddie Murphy) lost his job heading the ad campaign for a vegetable-based cereal called Veggie-O's, he and his friend Phil (Jeff Garlin), also pink-slipped, must face unemployment, accumulating bills and working wives. They also have to take their sons out of the exclusive Chapman Academy preschool program, run by Miss Harridan (Jessica Huston), the schools ironhanded mistress. Then Charlie has an idea: make being a parent into a profession in "Daddy Day Care."
This is a straightforward, don't-expect-any-surprises kind of pre-summer entertainment that has a good supporting cast, precocious kids and a premise that lends itself to slapstick comedy. Once the groundwork is laid, with Charlie out of work and in financial straits, the rest is by the numbers. Scripter Geoff Rodkey piles on the gags and the pratfalls as we follow Charlie and Phil through the trials and tribulations of caring for a bunch of kids.
"Daddy Day Care," with its amiable rags-to-riches story, plentiful sight gags and frequent out-of-the-mouths-of-babes one liners, is going to be a big hit for its star. But, truth be told, the credit for the success of the film is not due to Murphy's performance. The superstar gets to mug for the camera at times but the best of the comedy comes from efforts of Jeff Garlin and Steve Zahn. Newcomer to the big screen Garlin, as the chubby buddy sidekick Phil, plays well off of the star and the kids. Zahn is a natural as a kid-minded fan of super heroes, comic books and all things Star Trek who speaks fluent Klingonese and is the heart of the tiny operation. Murphy does do a good job when called upon to lend his expressive face, especially in one scene, with camera just on Murphy's kisser, as he enters the bathroom after on of his charges, not potty-trained, vacates the premise. The look of horror on Charlie's face, to the shower scene music from "Psycho," is one of funnier Murphy moments.
Angelica Huston is just in it for the paycheck, it seems, but does a yeoman's job as the conniving martinet of Chapman Academy who steadily escalates her private war on her new competition. Just desserts are in store for the malevolent matron. The kids are suitably cute and deliver the from-the-mouths-of-babes lines, as you'd expect.
Production values are typically Hollywood as director Steve Carr, following his "Doctor Dolittle 2" sojourn, musters his behind the scenes crew in straightforward fashion. Art direction (Chris Cornwall) and production design (Garreth Stover) keep things bright and shiny, if totally implausible - note the grandeur of the amusement park fundraiser this guys put on as they are begging for money to keep their school going. Camera by Steven B. Poster fits the bill for this kind of lightweight comedy.
I give "Daddy Day Care" a B-.
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