Good movie but grossly overrated

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Idris Elba's Monty James is a hardworking, well-liked soul across town, known for his compassion to others and extreme dedication to his three daughters, who he is trying to provide with a better life since their mother (Tasha Smith) walked out. Yet it should come as no surprise that when she jumps back into the quiet family's life, everything takes a turn for the worse. She is now dating a deadbeat gangbanger and demands the custody of her children so they don't have to live with Monty, who is housing a dirty secret of his own.Meanwhile, Monty becomes well-acquainted with Julia Rossmore (Gabrielle Union), a high-maintenance, somewhat demanding lawyer, who is taxied around by him as one of his two Joe-jobs. In order to keep his kids, he must arm himself with the best lawyer possible, and manages to get buddy-buddy with Maya so that he can have her defend him. All while simultaneously maintaining an honest relationship with the woman, and keeping a close eye on his girls, who are sent to live with their mother and her boyfriend after an incident at home.Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls is by far the most accomplished flick I've seen by him, combining sentimentality and parental-commitment for a truly winning blend of a human story. In the three other Perry picture I've seen, he tends to often focus too much on petty conflicts, soap-opera characters, and thinly constructed drama that leaves nothing to be desired. He focuses on stereotypes and archetypes rather than recognizable humans. Here, however, he accomplishes almost everything he has neglected in his past films to make a watchable and thoroughly enjoyable drama.Elba, who gets better and better with each performance, holds much of the weight of the film on his back and deserves much of the credit for its overall success. The film refrains from making him out to be a Godsend that should be treated with royalty, and also doesn't amplify the "tragic hero" ideas it conveys in the latter act. What we get is a character smart and competent enough to believe, but one that's also noticeably flawed and contemptible.There's also a surprising freshness to the way Elba and Union carry out their relationship together in the film. It doesn't erect itself off of tired clichés and romantically uninteresting drivel, but rather illustrates a likable relationship between two people - hugely far off on the socioeconomic line - that do much more than meet-cute. Not to mention, if you were to take the romantic story out of the film, there would still be a wealth of events and situational drama to focus on. How many romantic comedies can you say that about? Daddy's Little Girls isn't urban cinema's finest, with other dramas like Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It and John Singleton's Baby Boy passing this one right by in terms of quality and story. Yet Perry pulls no punches and doesn't have any idiotic distractions in terms of characters, melodrama, or subplots. He's focused and gridlocked on Monty and his relationship with Julia and his three daughters, which is how the film should be. This is a simple story with emotions that are memorable and content that's surprisingly favorable and well-handled.Starring: Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union. Directed by: Tyler Perry.

The biggest problem with this is that it's so totally predictable almost from the very beginning. Is there any surprise that comes up at any point in the entire movie? About the only thing thrown in that threw me off for a few minutes was the rape conviction against Monty (Idris Elba) which ended up being explained away anyway. The basis of the story, of course, was Monty's frantic need to get custody of his 3 daughters back from his ex-wife, who's hooked up with a drug dealer and seems to be into some pretty bad stuff herself. That leads to his budding relationship with Julia (Gabrielle Union) - a high powered lawyer who had employed Monty as her driver for a while, and finds herself strangely drawn to him both personally and professionally, as she ends up representing him. There's a lot of extraneous material thrown in - the community's combination of outrage and impotence against local drug dealers, the wrong side of the tracks romance between Monty and Julia, the situation the kids find themselves in when they're taken away from Monty and handed over to their mother. Sometimes it seemed as if there was a bit too much extraneous material to be honest.What I liked about the movie was the decision to make the girls' father the good guy, and the fact that the black community living in Monty's neighbourhood was shown to be diverse and mostly good, honest folk with a few losers thrown in. I also liked the performances from Elba and Union - they worked well together - and from the 3 McClain girls (I assume sisters themselves) who played Monty's children. They were as far removed from irritating child actors as you could imagine. They were quite good.Unfortunately, what I didn't like about this was the predictability of the whole thing. There was virtually no dramatic tension throughout, because you knew without any doubt how pretty much everything was going to turn out. That really drags a movie down in my opinion. (4/10)

Daddy's Little Girls is a powerful movie. The acting is not as good as can be, but it is a lesson to be learned. In the media African –American fathers are viewed as absent. This movie speaks for the fathers who fight for their children. I have watched Tyler Perry in many interviews and his father was very abusive so this movie was special for him to put out there.I believe the actors were OK. Idris Elba (Monty) was perfect for the father role; however Gabrielle Union could have been replaced with someone softer like Regina King. The most powerful thing about the movie is that Monty never gives up on fighting for his daughters no matter what the consequences are. He is strong for his girls. And he is strong for everyone around him that want to see him win the custody battle. The mother in this film (Tasha Smith) is portrayed as a raunchy gold digger that does not care about her children. And Monty just wants to make them feel safe and bring them up as best as possible. Even though his past may not be the best because of his criminal history he still uses his resources.I think all African-American mothers and father should see this movie. The message is powerful and there is a lesson to be learned. Even people that don't have children should watch this film. You never know what kind of situations you will encounter when you become a parent because life is not predictable, and you always have to stay strong for the people who are depending on you.

An Absolute Pleasure to Watch.This is one of those movies that you watch and then wonder how come the world can't see how common sense, character, and integrity make this planet a better place to live. "Daddy's Little Girls" should expose the horrors that gang activity brings upon communities; the foolishness of class envy and ridicule; and the need for men and women to treat each other with respect at all times. Yet, I wonder if some people didn't watch this movie and go right back to doing things the wrong way. I'm sure I'll meet up with someone in a few days who saw this movie and didn't even realize it had a message in it.It is hard to rate a movie like this anything but 10 stars. The message was fantastic, the acting on par with any other movie made recently, and the plot flowed together amazingly well.As far as I'm concerned Idris Elba is one heck of an actor. He is virtually flawless in his role as Monty, a man determined to do what's right when nothing in his life is headed in the right direction. I knew very little about Elba before watching this movie. Now I know that Hollywood, Independent film makers, and even Bollywood would be making a big mistake if they didn't make place this man in more leading roles.Gabrielle Union is excellent as Julia, a Ivy League Lawyer who wins all her cases but lacks the street skills to get along with the little people. Union is beautiful, knows how to deliver a line, and is just a complete joy to watch on screen. Combining Elba and Union on screen was a perfect match. How could anyone help but root for these two to be successful in the end? Louis Gossett Jr., man has this guy been in some films or what? His filmography page goes back to the 1950s! What an amazing career. He is a great addition to this film as Willie, the garage owner where Monty works on cars and dreams of one day being the owner. His character is a little one dimensional but he still has what it takes to deliver those "You better get your butts in gear" message. I will forever believe that his performance in "An Officer and a Gentleman" was one of the best performances ever, by anyone.Tasha Smith plays Jennifer, Monty's evil-EX and mother to the little girls. She did a great job being evil. I know this because I found myself wanting to reach through my television screen and slap her! Job well done, Tasha! Okay, I am running a little long on my review here, so I am going to wrap this up: "Daddy's Little Girl" is a must-see movie with a message, great acting, and a whole lot energy - definitely worth every penny it cost to make, market, and distribute.For all of you bad critics.I've been looking at the comments people make on movies such as "Dough Boys" and "Never Die Alone" and all I have to say to the bad critics is a few comments. Most of you who rate these movies based on it's cinematic beauty and character, never take the time to view it for what it was meant. These movies are all great in my book, one being because they are things that I have seen since I was 8 years old and still see today, so I can relate to them. Which is what they are, stories that are told for the enjoyment of people who can relate to them and to show those who cannot, the reality that these characters lived in relation to real life situations.But since we have a lot of people who were born with silver spoons in their mouth trying to make their voices be the base of the percussion line, they can and will never see it that way. Every time they watch a movie their looking at the camera detail, the acting to be 10 stars, the story to be about white houses with picket fences and a happy ending under a rainbow, while we who relate to the story always think the movie was great because it speaks for us, it lets everyone who see's it know that these things do happen, regardless of it's budget and cinematography.So to all you bad movie critics, My advice to you is to stop watching these movies that you cannot relate to, or just stop being a critic and just keep it to yourself.danceability-1, Amsterdam Holland