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Daddy Day Care
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Entertaining family-comedy about an unemployed ad exec (Eddie Murphy) who tries his hand at professional parenting by operating a day care business out of his home. Directed by Steve Carr, the contrived fish-out-of-water premise is buoyed by a heartfelt -- albeit heavy-handed -- affirmation of fatherhood, making it easy to applaud and suitable even for many pre-teen youngsters. Some toilet jokes. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG) 2003
Full Review
An out-of-work ad exec discovers that necessity is the "father" of invention in the entertaining family comedy "Daddy Day Care" (Columbia TriStar).
Though the fish-out-of-water plot is mired by a schmaltzy ending a blind audience could see 90 minutes away, director Steve Carr's film is buoyed by its heartwarming -- albeit heavy-handed -- affirmation of fatherhood.
Charlie Hinton (Eddie Murphy) is the natural byproduct of that most American of competitions -- the rat race. His job at a hip advertising firm affords him the ability to provide an affluent lifestyle for his wife, Kim (Regina King), and 4-year-old son, Ben (Khamani Griffin). Yet privilege is not without cost; Charlie has paid the high price of success by sacrificing quality time with his son.
When his biggest account tanks, Charlie and his partner Phil (Jeff Garlin) find themselves on the short end of corporate downsizing. With only his wife's paycheck left to shoulder the burden of living expenses, Charlie and Kim are forced to take Ben out of pricey day care at the exclusive Chapman Academy -- the Ivy League of child care facilities, run by Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston), the school's jackboot taskmistress.
Charlie, left tending Ben while Kim is at work, concocts a scheme to operate a day care center out of his house. The business venture quickly pays dividends. But Charlie, who has enlisted the help of Phil and bumbling fellow ex-employee Marvin (Steve Zahn), soon discovers he is in way over his head -- a dilemma which affords Murphy ample playtime for comedic show-and-tell.
Predictably, the three men begin to bond with the children, inducing mawkish epiphanies about the joys of parenting and much hand-wringing over the merits of returning to the dog-eat-dog daily grind of a 9-to-5 job.
The success of their venture also siphons kids away from the stuffy Chapman Academy, setting up a confrontation with Miss Harridan, who will stop at nothing in steamrolling the upstart competition.
With "Daddy Day Care," Murphy, whose recent hits include "Shrek" and the "Dr. Doolittle" franchise, completes his professional metamorphosis from raunchy comedian to bankable star of family fare, a transformation which lends credibility to his portrayal of the squeaky-clean Charlie.
While much of the film's charm is generated by the adorable moppets, the threadbare narrative keeps Murphy in a holding pattern of toilet-training and diaper jokes, many of which feel recycled from other movies of the men-rearing-toddlers ilk such as "Kindergarten Cop" and "Three Men and a Baby." Nevertheless, though the humor is flat and forced at times, the film's theme of parenthood is presented in a positive light, making it easy to applaud and suitable viewing even for many pre-teen youngsters.
However, one question never addressed is why many of the parents in the film, several of whom are rolling in cash, need day care at all. Far from being single parents, whose work schedule necessitates the use of day care, most of the parents come across as merely too busy golfing, shopping, or pursuing careers to be bothered with such trifles as parental duties -- a disconcerting message which seems at odds with the main thrust of the film.
Due to some toilet jokes, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.
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