Daddy Day Care

Review by Jason Gaston

The tragic downward spiral of Eddie Murphy’s career continues in this woefully bad movie that should be reported to the child welfare offices.

Yes, folks, it’s Daddy Day Care. I know that I said that I didn’t want to go see this movie, but my girlfriend did so I went with her. I sat through every agonizing minute of this movie for her and if that isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.

In case you don’t know (or likely didn’t care) Daddy Day Care is the story of Charlie Hinton (Eddie Murphy), an advertising executive (yes, I know… you hate him already) who is downsized with extreme prejudice after he tries to market a breakfast cereal called Veggie-Ohs. Yes, folks, cereal made from vegetables. Perhaps we can throw them at the screen instead of tomatoes.

Without a job, Charlie hits on the idea of starting a day care center when he discovers he can’t afford to put his own son in a posh day care center run by the movie’s villain, a perpetually embarrassed Angelica Houston.

This, of course, raises the question… why is this woman the villain? The kids in her day care center speak four languages, they’re studying for SATs, and discuss science and philosophy… sounds like she’s doing a damn decent job to me. Hell, if I ever have kids, I’m going to look high and low for a place like that to stick the little brats in.

It doesn’t matter, though, because Charlie and his obese buddy have got it in their heads to start their own day care center and shut down the more suitable and experienced one with one that is dangerous and out of control.

Ha ha.... eh?

Boy, this movie is just a huge miscalculation. I mean, when you have more sympathy for the villain than you do for the heroes, you know that something stinks in the multiplex.

To be sure, though, the kids are cute… including one little rugrat that wears a Flash costume and runs around the house. Sadly, this is probably going to be the closest we’re going to get to a DC comic adaptation for a long time.

Steve Zhan has got some pretty funny lines and, overall, he’s just a funny guy. If he could just stay way from cinematic cesspools like this one, he’d have a career set for life.

Save your money… this isn’t approaching Pluto Nash bad, but bad is still bad and Daddy Day Care… it’s bad..