Review of Daddy Day Care (2003) by Harry W — 12 Nov 2013

I watched Daddy Day Care so many times as a kid and always thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I was sure I would think less of it today but it was still worth a shot.

Despite me realising all the stupidities in the script and the cheap gags that director Steve Carr went after with Geoff Rodkey's script which is short of character development, I still picked up on the amiable charm of the film's sweet mood and intentions, as well as the fact that its heart is set on emphasizing the important role that a father takes on a young child's life in lieu of the typical mother-based story. Even though a lot of the moments are cringe worthy, it's consistently pretty funny in the childish manner that it was intended and crafted, and if you can understand and appreciate that then you may appreciate Daddy Day Care.

Its story was mostly pretty decent, even though it was pretty basic and more focused on cliche family drama than anything else. Also, the fact that the story has an actual enemy attempting to prevent the development of the wellbeing of children is ridiculous, and Academy Award winner Angelica Huston deserves a better character than the villainous schoolteacher which is a ridiculous plot element. And of course the script is full of cliches coming from every which way but loose that require the actors to characterise their characters themselves which Steve Zahn still seems to be a rookie at, despite his well-meaning efforts.

Despite being stuck working with the most commercially cliche script available, Eddie Murphy's natural talent as an actor and comedic charisma makes him able to pull it off convincingly and ensure that his iconic voice is there to deliver laughs and entertainment to viewers everywhere. This is one of his finer PG efforts in my opinion.

Jeff Garlin was also pretty funny even though his sole purpose was to shout in his iconic voice and be the butt of all the physical comedy, but then again it is funny to watch a heavy man get injured in the comedic fashions of being punched in the nuts by a child or when he tackles a massive broccoli.

The juvenile cast was also talented, with the cute charms of Khamani Griffin, Hailey Noelle Johnson and Ellie Fanning all being the standouts due to their intelligent line deliveries at such a juvenile age.

I also really liked the soundtrack because they used some nostalgic bands such as The Ramones and Cheap Trick along with a few modern pieces, but the editors respect that classic and that is just groovy, yo.

So I was surprised how much I still enjoyed Daddy Day Care at this age, but frankly it still has the amiable charm and silly fun that Eddie Murphy has a natural talent for supplying.