Daddy Day Care (2003)
Daddy Day Care might be my favorite Eddie Murphy movie; but then again, I’ve said that about a lot of his kiddie movies. But I just love this one! No matter how many times I watch it, I laugh myself silly. And I might be the only person in the world who both loves this movie and can’t stand children.
Why would I love this movie then, you ask? Because it’s hilarious. It completely demonstrates every reason why I don’t like children. I get to watch Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, and Steve Zahn suffer as they try to control the little monsters, and I don’t have to get my hands dirty. And when the movie’s over, I get to smile in gratitude that my home will never be trashed by toddlers. Speaking of home, I must digress for a moment: Eddie Murphy’s home in this movie is so beautiful! It looks like a cozy colonial B&B on the outside, and the inside boasts of ornate detail. Dark wood wainscotting, a lovely kitchen with dusty green tile, a great staircase, columns, glass French doors leading to the living room, hardwood floors, wall and ceiling details – alright, my digression is over. But I would love to live in that house, as long as I could come home to it after the children have left.
In case you missed this one when it came out in the theaters, the premise is pretty irresistible, so start planning your family movie night. Eddie and Jeff are advertising executives, but when their healthy cereal account goes belly-up, they get fired. Left alone with their kids while their wives to go work, they’re pretty miserable. Until Eddie comes up with an idea: the exclusive and expensive preschool run by Anjelica Huston is the only game in town, so if he comes up with an alternative, he’ll get tons of business. Thus, “Daddy Day Care” is born. At first, Eddie and Jeff don’t know what they’re doing, and it’s very funny. Chasing after the children, trying desperately to entertain their short attention spans, and feeding them any sugary treat they demand, they’re exhausted by the end of the day. But they’re professionals, and they take pride in their work, so as the days go by, they continue to improve the quality of childcare. It’s quite touching to see them bond with the kids and grow to care more about them than their paychecks.
Why would I love this movie then, you ask? Because it’s hilarious. It completely demonstrates every reason why I don’t like children. I get to watch Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, and Steve Zahn suffer as they try to control the little monsters, and I don’t have to get my hands dirty. And when the movie’s over, I get to smile in gratitude that my home will never be trashed by toddlers. Speaking of home, I must digress for a moment: Eddie Murphy’s home in this movie is so beautiful! It looks like a cozy colonial B&B on the outside, and the inside boasts of ornate detail. Dark wood wainscotting, a lovely kitchen with dusty green tile, a great staircase, columns, glass French doors leading to the living room, hardwood floors, wall and ceiling details – alright, my digression is over. But I would love to live in that house, as long as I could come home to it after the children have left.
In case you missed this one when it came out in the theaters, the premise is pretty irresistible, so start planning your family movie night. Eddie and Jeff are advertising executives, but when their healthy cereal account goes belly-up, they get fired. Left alone with their kids while their wives to go work, they’re pretty miserable. Until Eddie comes up with an idea: the exclusive and expensive preschool run by Anjelica Huston is the only game in town, so if he comes up with an alternative, he’ll get tons of business. Thus, “Daddy Day Care” is born. At first, Eddie and Jeff don’t know what they’re doing, and it’s very funny. Chasing after the children, trying desperately to entertain their short attention spans, and feeding them any sugary treat they demand, they’re exhausted by the end of the day. But they’re professionals, and they take pride in their work, so as the days go by, they continue to improve the quality of childcare. It’s quite touching to see them bond with the kids and grow to care more about them than their paychecks.
On a surface level, Daddy Day Care is plainly an enjoyable movie. If you’re a parent, you’ll totally identify with the grown-ups as to the difficulties of childrearing. Your kids will probably demand you take them to “Daddy Day Care” the next morning. It looks like the coolest daycare ever! My mom had a special appreciation for this movie because she used to run a daycare herself. She knew all the rules and regulations one must abide by in setting up a daycare, including the safety gates and the parent-child ratio.
From start to finish, this movie has three laughs a minute. It’s absolutely delightful, and guaranteed to put you in a good mood, especially if you’ve had a hard week. There’s so much to appreciate in what seems like just a silly kiddie comedy. You can learn about parenting, about what’s really important in life, you can laugh at the antics of toddlerhood, or you can just drool over a beautiful home. But there’s one more reason to really respect this movie: the amount of patience the actors and crew had to have to work with so many children. There’s nothing more difficult than making sure a four-year-old has already eaten, gone to the bathroom, had a drink of water, napped, is in a good mood, and remembers his lines before sticking him in front of a spotlight and say, “Don’t look in the camera, honey.” Not to mention stage mothers. So while it looks like Eddie, Jeff, and Steve are all having one giant playdate with all these little kids, they’re actually doing something very difficult. Director Steve Carr and his crew might get dismissed for having an easy assignment of a kiddie movie, but they all had to have patience and deal with the most difficult type of actors in the business. My hat goes off to everyone for making it look so easy.
In one of the outtakes during the end credits, you can see Eddie treating the little boy playing his son very nicely. The little boy forgot his line, and Eddie took the fall for it, requesting they do another take. Isn’t that sweet? Alright, I think I’ve talked this movie up enough. It’s time you watched it. Or, like me, watched it for the tenth time.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The last ten seconds of the movie, the camera swirls around in a big aerial circle, and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Eddie Murphy movies here!
From start to finish, this movie has three laughs a minute. It’s absolutely delightful, and guaranteed to put you in a good mood, especially if you’ve had a hard week. There’s so much to appreciate in what seems like just a silly kiddie comedy. You can learn about parenting, about what’s really important in life, you can laugh at the antics of toddlerhood, or you can just drool over a beautiful home. But there’s one more reason to really respect this movie: the amount of patience the actors and crew had to have to work with so many children. There’s nothing more difficult than making sure a four-year-old has already eaten, gone to the bathroom, had a drink of water, napped, is in a good mood, and remembers his lines before sticking him in front of a spotlight and say, “Don’t look in the camera, honey.” Not to mention stage mothers. So while it looks like Eddie, Jeff, and Steve are all having one giant playdate with all these little kids, they’re actually doing something very difficult. Director Steve Carr and his crew might get dismissed for having an easy assignment of a kiddie movie, but they all had to have patience and deal with the most difficult type of actors in the business. My hat goes off to everyone for making it look so easy.
In one of the outtakes during the end credits, you can see Eddie treating the little boy playing his son very nicely. The little boy forgot his line, and Eddie took the fall for it, requesting they do another take. Isn’t that sweet? Alright, I think I’ve talked this movie up enough. It’s time you watched it. Or, like me, watched it for the tenth time.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The last ten seconds of the movie, the camera swirls around in a big aerial circle, and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Eddie Murphy movies here!