Customer Reviews

Daddy Day Care [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a co-owner of a daycare, and being male, I was really interested in catching this movie.

First of all, the kids are really cute. Especially the kid who plays Ben, Eddie Murphy's "son". But the entire cast of kids did a fantastic job.

I love Eddie Murphy so I wasn't surprised to be entertained by his antics (he has the best facial expressions in everything he does, very likeable). But I also wanted to applaud Steve Zhan who did fantastic as a Star Trek geek. I guess he stood out for me because he reminded me so much of myself especially when around fellow Trekkies.

As a daycare provider, I did find some things entertaining. I've heard the horror stories from parents looking for a daycare, so the scene of Ben's parents trying to find a new daycare was quite funny. The scenes of the house being destroyed... oh, there is no way around that with a group of kids. You've got the inspector who we need to deal with on a regular basis (of course, we had to pass inspection BEFORE opening unlike this movie, but it was fun to see the interaction with the inspector).

One of the things that made me go, "yeah right" was the competition aspec. No, I'm sorry, Day Care is not a cut-throat business. Actually, there is a lot of business to go around and there seems to be no dominate player that nobody can raise a candle to. That idea was very laughable to me, and I'm sure to anybody else who catches this movie. But the plot would be thin without this aspect, so I can somewhat understand. But I should deduct a star for the very idea...

...But I won't, and only because of the one thing I appreciate most about this movie. Other than some brief questionable parts, this was a fairly clean movie that you can feel comfortable having the entire family watch. Bravo for making a family movie, more need to be made. It was nice to watch a movie and not grimace or have to turn it off because I'm sitting next to my son. Hopefully some of the Hollywood Execs take note as the success of this movie.

I would recommend this to anybody.

My friend brought this over for us to watch and my husband gave me the "look" as he slowly settled down to watch.
I could hear him groan, "Oh no! How long is this movie? It's about what?", but by the end of the showing even he was smiling.
Eddie Murphy does an excellent job of playing Charlie, a man who lost his job when his 'Veggie-O" cereal line did not make the production line. After being dismissed he and his friend Phil decide they will open a Day Care Center! Ah.......now the fun begins as the Dad's take on the everyday antics of the little ones and the wrath of one Mrs. Harridan, owner of a more 'uptown' Day Care Center that seems to be losing it's student to "Daddy Day Care."Angelica Huston, who plays the part of Mrs. Harridan, does an outstanding job as the villian in this flick.
There were quite a few chuckles from many scenes in this movie and the children were absolutely adorable! Reminded me a little of the movie "Three Men and A Baby", only this was three men and 14 babies and more! I enjoyed this movie, it was clean, fun and left you with a good feeling! Good job to all the actors, even the little ones!

I took the whole family, hubby kids and all, to see this, and it was an entirely acceptable evening out for everyone. It's not much higher in quality (writing, acting, etc.) than your average TV sitcom but the premise you came to see (Eddie Murphy plays with some kids) is played out predictably and amusingly, right down to the potty jokes.

Sadly Angelica Houston is wasted in a badly-written part as the villainous headmistress of a rival snooty daycare `Academy.'

I hadn't expected a whole lot from this movie but Daddy Daycare turned out to be a real treat.

I knew the premise that Eddie Murphy loses his job and needing employment and affordable daycare for his own son decides to incorporate the two and open his own daycare. What I wasn't expecting was the sweetness, warmth and charm of this movie.

I really enjoyed Daddy Daycare. The storyline had depth and the actors did a really good job, especially Eddie Murphy and Steve Zahn. The kids were absolutely adorable.

A fun and touching movie for the whole family.

A DVD collection contains movies worth watching over and over again. Daddy Day Care isn't a movie worthy of being found in a collection of DVDs. If I were a critic, I would give this movie two stars only because of it's originality and because it contains developed characters, conflict and resolution. Otherwise, I found that the story line was dragged out and that it should have contained more humor and better actors.
At the beginning of the story, Charlie (Eddie Murphy), and his wife(Regina King) take a tour of and enroll their son, Ben (Jonathan Katz), at Chapmen Academy Preschool, a strict private school for young children. Charlie is a marketer for a new brand of cereal, Veggie O's, targeted to kids. His wife finished law school just before their son was born and, after raising him for a few years, is now going to pursue a career as a lawyer. Charlie's cereal fails. He and his partner, Phil (Jeff Garlin), lose their job. After he and his wife look for a cheaper alternative to Chapmen Academy Preschool, they realize there are no decent alternatives. Charlie, then, comes up with the idea of Daddy Day Care. Charlie, Phil and later Marvin(Steve Zahn) run a daycare out of Charlie's home. At the beginning of their business, the children are out of control and they provide no structure for them. But, since it is a fun place for kids to go, more parents enroll their kids. Conflict arises between Chapmen and Daddy Day Care when Chapmen loses enrollments to Daddy Day Care. Chapmen sends Child Protection Agencies back and forth to make sure regulations are carried out, in hopes that they would be shut down. Chapman's attempts to shut Daddy Day Care down fail. At the end, Daddy Day care uses the money made, at the fund-raiser they held, towards a building for the business.
The plot is the most important part of the movie. The idea of the story was good but the plot began to drag in the middle. The repetition of arguments in the conflict faded my interest. There wasn't much humor to keep my attention. The only part that made me laugh out loud was when the little girls put makeup on Phil and he didn't know it until he saw himself in a mirror after he opened the door to the regulations agent. The best part was the end, during the fund-raiser. Kids might like this movie because there are kids in it. But, I don't think very many kids will even find this movie funny.
Actors can make or break a movie. Eddie Murphy was the only well known actor in this movie. I didn't recognize any of the other actors. Eddie Murphy is a good actor in comedy movies but he needed another good actor to support him and strengthen the humor. Jeff Garlin did fairly well but the movie would have been funnier with Eddie Murphy and Jim Carey running the day care.
I was disappointed after watching this movie because I really wanted to see it. I work at a daycare and I love children. I begged my boyfriend to watch it with me and then I fell asleep on him trying to watch it. Daddy Day Care is definitely not a movie I would watch over and over. You wouldn't find it in my DVD collection.

Eddie Murphy hasn't made very many good movies lately. In fact, he hasn't had a hit in about two years. I sure hope that changes with DADDY DAY CARE. In the movie, Murphy's character is laid off from his job trying to market health food to kids. While sitting in the park with his best friend and former co-worker watching their kids play on the playground, he is struck (with some prompting from another parent) with the grand idea of starting a day care center in their home. Thus Daddy Day Care is born. Their business grows and the local mistress of the only other reliable day care in the area plots revenge. However, good triumphs in the end.

Before watching the film, I had read a couple of negative reviews about the movie in some local papers. The critics were complaining that the target audience of the film was too young to understand much of the movie. I disagree. The target audience of this movie is not youth. Instead it is anyone who has ever worked with children. As a former preschool teacher, I found this movie hilarious, yet emotional uplifting. I could relate to almost everything that the workers of "Daddy Day Care" faced and it reaffirmed my belief in the importance of working with children.

I was able to most able to relate to the character that Steve Zahn played. He has the best part in the entire film. Also, I found eery similarties between the evil director in the movie and the director of the child care center where I was employed as a teacher. It's a sad to say, but many youth workers loose sight of the children they work with and see them as objects instead of the special, unique people they are.

Kids of all ages will probably like this movie (there were a crowd of high schoolers sitting in the theatre and they laughed quite often at the antics on screen). Parents will probably enjoy it as well. However, anyone who has ever worked with children will probably find it the most enjoyable. Highly recommended and one of the best comedies to arrive so far in 2003.

This is an adorable movie and was defiantly worth my time. It's about a guy who loses his job and his and his friends trying to run a day care. They have plenty of road blocks getting started but really start to care for the kids and eventually they get the daycare business under wraps.

But a competing school has gotten upset and tries to shut down Daddy Day Care, by calling the health dept. Still, they make the requirements and continue on their way. All of a sudden they get their jobs back but end up going back, but the day care jobs they've given up turn out to be more important than the high powered jobs they went back to so it's back to the day care again.

This movie was invigorating and shows father son relationships. Also the equality of man and women and what they can do, job wise. Overall, kids and parents alike will enjoy the movie. I defiantly recommend this for families and friends everywhere.

This movie is really funny. Eddie did a great job. The actors were picked amazing well. This movie is good for friday nights.

I bought this movie at a store. I liked it and I laughted at the first part of the movie. Eddie murphy was Charlie and the other character, Phil, was has partner. They both got fired in the movie and Phil decided to have a daycare at Charles' house. They made the house a daycare with tons of toys. Phil passed out the flyers to advertise the daycare. I liked Ben in the movie. He went to the daycare and he didnt like it. It was so crazy that he never went back So funny I saw this movie twice.

Daddy Day Care just wants to make you laugh, and make your kids laugh too.
Eddie Murphy's best film in some time has him back in the warm and cuddly family-friendly mode. "Daddy Day Care" really is fun for the whole family as two suddenly unemployed fathers (Murphy, Jeff Garlin) decided to open up a pre-school.
The message - and it's there but only gently underscored - is that fathers ought to listen to their kids. Charlie (Murphy) is a business executive on the go who tries to make up lost time with his son, but doesn't really pay attention. When unemployment makes him the chief care provider after mom (Regina King) goes back to work, he's not sure what to do. Then he hears mothers complaining about the lack of affordable, quality day care and realizes there's a market niche to fill. That he understands.
The plot provides a rival pre-school run as a college prep academy by the tightly wound Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston), but the story is really about the fathers finding out just how hard it is to mind a group of youngsters all day. It takes the arrival of a state inspector (Jonathan Katz) to make them realize the responsibility they've undertaken, and the addition of a third teacher - the airhead mailroom clerk from their old office, goofily played by Steve Zahn - to get them on track.
The comedy works both high and low. There's plenty of slapstick, such as the scene of the little boy not quite potty trained who "missed" the toilet in a scene already played to death in the ads, but there's also some clever writing as well. One of the best jokes, not to be spoiled here, revolves around one toddler who seems to be spouting nothing but gibberish. The set up and payoff show that some thought went into this, and it's not merely a series of pratfalls.
As he's hit middle age Murphy has mellowed, and his family friendly comedies, like "The Nutty Professor" and "Dr. Doolittle" show a desire to shift gears. A streetwise, fast talking Axel Foley (from "Beverly Hills Cop") is funny in his 20s. In his 40s, it starts getting to be a bit sad.
Jeff Garlin adds able support as Murphy's partner, thrilled that he's grabbed the kids' attention when he starts playing the guitar and singing, and even funnier when he realizes he's run through his entire repertoire. Steve Zahn's mail-sniffing, "Star Trek" loving Marvin is hilarious, while Jonathan Katz is nicely nuanced as the state inspector who's there to enforce the law but doesn't want to be a bully about it. The kids, as expected, are adorable, each with a comical mini-drama of his own. Stick around for the outtakes during the closing credits, for a wonderful moment with Khamani Griffin, who plays Murphy's son.
Here's a comedy with black and white performers which doesn't turn on one of the white characters pretending he's a rap star or a "gangsta." Instead, "Daddy Day Care" just wants to make you laugh, and make your kids laugh too.