Good movie but grossly overrated

Fresh and Exciting

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Two fathers lose their jobs in product development at a large food company and are forced to take their sons out of the exclusive Chapman Academy and become stay at home fathers. With no job possibilities on the horizon , the two dads open their own day care facility, "Daddy Day Care" and employ some fairly unconventional and side-splitting methods of caring for children. However they face competition from the headmistress from Chapman as more of her students are joining Daddy Day Care.This film starred: Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn & Angelica Hudson.DADDY DAY CARE was released in 2003 ad is and is an OK family comedy. If you have children there is a big chance they will enjoy this film because even I got a few chuckles out of it. This film isn't something I would probably watch again but I do recommend this film to people with young kids as they will most likely enjoy it. So if you have kids that go to a day care centre, you should show them this film.***/***** Could be worse.

When I first saw Steve Carr's Daddy Day Care I thought that it was going to be a funny movie about 2 dads who lose their jobs (played by Eddie Murphy, and Jeff Garlin) who end up on deciding to open a daycare center at Murphy's house and then all hell breaks loose, and the movie gets worse with Angelica Huston's horrible performance as a head mistress to a preschool academy who does not believe in toddlers having fun, and Steve Zahn as Marvin one of the workers who ends up losing the same job just like Murphy and Garlin did while making dopey faces and being very weird which makes the movie even worse. This is really one of the worst movies of 2003 making me laugh at the movie instead of with it. I mean really what was Murphy, Garlin, Zahn, Huston, as well as Regina King who gives the only good performance in the entire movie thinking while making this miserable movie watching experience. But I was originally going to give this movie 1 star but had to give it two because Regina King gave the only good performance, and by the way those of you people who liked this movie watch it again to see if you change your mind about this laugh less comedy.

Daddy Day Care is a nice family film that is entertaining to watch. Charlie and Phil are so consumed by their advertising jobs that they are completely missing out on the joys of fatherhood. After failing to excite the public about vegetable cereal, Charlie and Phil are fired from their ad jobs. While in search of employment and tending to his four-year-old son Ben during the day while his wife Kim is at work, Charlie has an idea. If he and Phil can handle taking care of two kids, how much harder can it be to supervise ten? Much harder than they ever imagined. But, they will try to manage to pull through and not let Miss Gwyneth Harridan ruin their day care. The plot doesn't sounds great but it does have some potential, Fortunately, it delivered as this is film was actually quite funny. It wasn't over the top funny or Finding Nemo funny but it defiantly can stand on its own. At most times Daddy Day Care may just seem like a film with a bunch of screaming kids and nothing else which isn't true as there are many laughs to be found as well. Eddie Murphy stars and gives quite a funny performance. The real stars of the film though are the little kids. Most of them were funny, some were annoying but they were all tolerable. Regina King plays Kim and she doesn't really appear in the film very much but gives a funny line or two. Steve Zahn was really funny as Marvin. Sure sometimes his character was too stupid to like but it never crosses the line. Anjelica Huston plays the same role I usually see her in, she plays a mean person well but it is tiring seeing her do the same thing. Lacey Chabert has a small but funny role and she is a bit underrated. Jeff Garlin wasn't that good, like when compared to everyone else he was weak and not very funny either. Steve Carr directs and does a decent job, nothing special. I don't know why I liked this movie as much as I did. It was stupid and kind of had a weak story but I still liked it. It does get dull at times, particularly the beginning as it starts off slow but it becomes funnier as the film continues. The running time is 92 minutes so it wouldn't be that much of a punishment to watch. The movie isn't very clever it's a simple film but it does contain enough laughs to entertain most people. Daddy Day Care is also a lot better then The Haunted Mansion. So, if you have a choice between the two, I would go with this one. In the end, this isn't a great film but it might fit the bill if you are in need for a family flick. Rating 6.7/10

Caught this today on DVD with a buddy's grand-kids, and was pleasantly surprised. I have given it 9 out of 10, not for pure artistic merit, but as a funny 'family-film'. Certainly, the current rating here at IMDb is pessimistic. There are only 2 or 3 decent films of this sort produced annually in Hollywood, the rest being utter trash.Eddie Murphy plays a more subdued role than we might expect as a high-powered 'player' in the ad game, with little time for his family. A sudden change finds him desperate for work or an enterprise, in a plot ploy reminiscent of Michael Keaton's "Mr. Mom". The unfolding action finds Eddie scrambling to operate a day care facility with frenetic partners Jeff Garlin and, later, Steve Zahn. Murphy allows that duo to handle the slapstick end of things. He remains the thinker and the one who calms the waves of lunacy, allowing the plot to move forward to the next challenge facing our heroes.The satirical side of this story is shown by examining the competing (snotty) daycare center of the always-delightful Angelica Huston, reprising her 'vampy villainess' role of "Ever After". She runs a sophisticated academy for toddlers that Fraser and Niles Crane might envy (but it really needs to be taken down a peg or two).Refreshing, too, is the portrayal of the daycare inspector unleashed on Eddie by Huston. Instead of the typical clichéd grump who threatens and hollers, we get a tender, supportive fella who really wants the boys to succeed (we find out why at the end - watch the puppet show carefully!).Garlin is the closest thing I've seen to a replacement for our departed and dear John Candy, a slightly over-sized actor who can combine tenderness with slapstick! Zahn was an unusual sidekick fit as 'Giordino' to McConaughey's 'Dirk Pitt' in "Sahara", and, here as a hapless Trekkie, impresses with his comedic timing.Other notables pop up in supporting roles, and the kids are terrific. Enjoy! Final word to other actors of (former) glory: check your ego at the door, share the limelight with a great supporting cast and find a real script with likable or compelling characters. in no particular order.