Daddy Day Care Review
by Terri Clark (TerriClark4 AT aol DOT com)August 18th, 2003
Daddy Daycare
Review by: Terri Clark
When Charlie Hinton (Eddie Murphy) and his co-worker Phil (Jeff Garlin) are fired from their advertising jobs they can no longer afford to pay the expensive preschool tuition for their children at the elite Chapman Academy. A cheaper alternative is not available, so the two fathers become reluctant stay-at-home dads. Bored and broke, they come up with what they think is an ingenious idea…they'll open their own Daddy Day Care. If they can watch two kids, what's a few more? Chaos that's what! But it's not long before the men put the Pop in popular, which doesn't set well with the head mistress of Chapman. The pinched and pressed Miss Harridan (Angelica Houston doing a Cruella DeVil impression) is peeved that her students are dropping out to attend the loathsome Daddy Day Care and she'll do anything to stop them. After all, who could possibly prefer entertainment to education?
It's been twenty-years since Michael Keaton starred in Mr. Mom, but there's no missing the similarities between his Jack Baxter and Murphy's Charlie Hinton. Both men lose their jobs and then their pride when they're forced to become househusbands while their wives go to work and earn a paycheck. After their initial hostility they learn to appreciate everything their wives have always done, they discover they never really knew their children and they realize they
actually <gasp!> like being a full-time parent. The difference? Mr. Mom focused
on the man. Daddy Day Care focuses on the kids.
Much of the heart and humor in Mr. Mom came from witnessing Jack's evolution from a harried businessman to a dynamo dad who wasn't ashamed to admit he'd gotten in touch with his feminine side. Soap operas, coupon clipping, housework, school crossing guard, bachelorette party…Jack did it all.
In Daddy Day Care most the laughs come from the kids at the fathers expense. A dad who doesn't handle diapers well. A dad who walks his kid into a wall. A dad
who has makeup applied to his face while he's sleeping. A dad who gets karate kicked. You get the idea. Granted the kids are cute, especially little Khamani Griffin who plays Murphy's son Ben, but Murphy himself is flat. He willingly allows the kids to overshadow him rather than play his comic strength to their spontaneity. The best funnyman in the group isn't Murphy or Garlock, but rather
Steve Zahn who receives genuine laughs for his performance as their geeky, Star
Trek obsessed assistant. It's a shame that director Steve Carr didn't better utilize his three strong comedic leads. The entire movie is little more than a chain of contrived events and weak reactions. There's no depth, no realism and very little heart. Ben's mom almost disappears entirely, the fathers are never seen doing any serious work, like…let's say…cleaning up after a dozen kids destroy the home and Hinton never pays enough attention to his own child. Reality aside, Daddy Day Care is cute and harmless enough in a time where there's few films families can see together. The laughs are there, but the humor is hollow. Most likely the preschool potty jokes will appeal to younger children. But for the daddy of them all, make sure to rent Mr. Mom.
First printed on Moviefone.com
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Terri Clark ([email protected]) is a freelance movie critic. She writes reviews for West Life News, Moviefone.com and the Apollo Guide.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/author-5505/
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