IMDb

Sally
This was not as painful to watch as I expected. It’s not great, but I wouldn’t mind watching it again. (Though in all honesty I probably won’t.)

Daddy Day Care is not Eddie Murphy at his best by a long shot, but I don’t think anyone would look at this and think that it would be. Still, it wasn’t completely terrible. There were some funny jokes and lots of cute kids. Of course, it also plays on the stereotype of the dopey dad who is woefully bad at parenting. I’m glad this trope is slowly going out of style.

I can say that you genuinely come to like and care about the characters by the end. Murphy and co-star Jeff Garlin are likable fathers trying their best to contribute to their families financially after loosing their jobs. They learn a lot about parenting their own children while watching other peoples’ kids, and discover that stay at home parents have one of the hardest jobs on the planet.

This is probably a movie best enjoyed by kids themselves. Though if I were going to introduce a wee one to Eddie Murphy, I’d just pop in Shrek.

Rating: C-

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Ben
It’s really hard to describe this as anything other than ordinary. Eddie Murphy has made some comedy gold in his day, sadly Daddy Day Care is not on that list. I’m still trying to work out why I own this movie. I never liked it, and had no interest in seeing it when it was released. I think this must have been back when I used to just buy everything that came out. I have a feeling I will regret my flippant attitude to DVD purchases more and more as this reviewing challenge continues.

So Daddy Day Care stars Eddie Murphy as a marketing executive who gets fired from his job and decides to open a day care centre rather than go and find work he is qualified for. For whatever reason, parents like the idea of two unqualified men babysitting their kids all day, mostly because it means they won’t have to pay the ridiculous school fees at the local pre-school run by Anjelica Huston. When the day care centre starts to affect her bottom line, Huston’s character starts scheming to close it down however possible. Murphy and his friend/partner (Jeff Garlin) must stay one step ahead of her if they hope to stay in business.

This is not a good film. To be fair, I’m not their target market, but I have trouble believing even a small child would find this funny. The only part I found amusing was when Murphy’s old co-worker (Steve Zahn) comes over to visit and can understand the jibberish that one of their kids is saying. Turns out he speaks fluent Klingon (the aliens from Star Trek for those non-geeks) and Zahn can understand him perfectly. That sequence was quite funny, in fact Steve Zahn’s character does have his moments, but they are few and far between. The only other part of the film I enjoyed was when Murphy and Garlin wrestled while dressed as giant vegetables. Despite these minor laughs, I can’t recommend this film in any way. If you want to see good Eddie Murphy, you need to stay in the 80s.

Rating: D-