2003 film by Steve Carr
Daddy Day Care is a 2003 American family comedy film starring Eddie Murphy in the lead role, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King, and Anjelica Huston. Written by Geoff Rodkey and directed by Steve Carr, it marks Murphy and Carr's second collaboration after Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). The plot follows two fathers who start a child day care out of their home after they are laid off from their corporate jobs.
The film was released in the United States on May 9, 2003, by Columbia Pictures. It received generally negative reviews from critics, but grossed $164.4 million worldwide on a budget of $60 million. The movie was followed by two sequels, in the film series of the same name.
Plot
Charlie Hinton is a market executive at a local food company. He and his wife Kim have just enrolled their son Ben into Chapman Academy, an overly academic preschool overseen by the haughty Gwyneth Harridan. However, on the day they enroll him, Charlie and his best friend, Phil Ryerson (along with 300 others) are laid off when the company shuts down their division due to the poor reception of their vegetable based breakfast cereals. Charlie breaks the news to Kim and Ben at dinner, but assures them he will find a new job.
While Kim supports the family by returning to work as a lawyer, Charlie, after six weeks of job hunting and finding nothing, is forced to take Ben out of Chapman. Unable to find a satisfactory alternative, Charlie decides to open a daycare center in his home with the help of Phil, calling it "Daddy Day Care". Although local parents are suspicious of men working with kids, a few choose their service as it is more affordable and child-based.
Charlie and Phil open with a few children, struggling at first with chaos and some personal issues. Angered at losing children to the new competition, Harridan attempts to shut them down by notifying child services, and Charlie and Phil find themselves rectifying problems pointed out by Dan Kubitz, a director of child services, to ensure their daycare is suitable for children, including hiring their former colleague Marvin as an additional care provider. In time, they start to enjoy running Daddy Day Care as it grows in popularity, with Charlie delighted to see Ben making friends and enjoying himself.
When Kubitz points out that the house cannot accommodate the number of children they now have, he suggests that they either remove two kids or find a permanent facility somewhere in town. Not willing to remove any of the children, Charlie chooses the latter option. Marvin tells them of a suitable vacant building, but they cannot afford it, so they decide to hold a fundraiser to earn the necessary capital. However, Harridan learns of the event and sabotages it with help from her hesitant assistant Jennifer. As a result, Charlie and Phil do not raise enough money to pay for the building.
At the same time, the company offers Charlie and Phil their old jobs back at double their salaries, having decided to rehire them after acting on an earlier idea that Charlie had sarcastically suggested. Harridan also offers to take in their children for a more affordable price if Daddy Day Care shuts down. Charlie and Phil reluctantly accept the offer, leaving Marvin heartbroken and refusing to join them. Ben is also disappointed when Charlie tells him he has to go back to Chapman. The next day, Charlie questions his decision after he realizes the impact Daddy Day Care has had on Ben and the other children. Deciding that Ben is the most important thing to him, he quits, convincing Phil to join him and re-open Daddy Day Care. Informing Marvin of their plans, Charlie confronts Harridan during a student orientation and reveals to the parents in attendance how little she cares about their children. After mentioning how much Daddy Day Care changed and helped the children, Charlie declares that Daddy Day Care is reopened and convinces the parents to return.
Six months later, the daycare manages to buy the building it needs to expand and prospers, with Charlie and Phil now successful, Jennifer now working for the center, and Marvin entering a relationship with one of the parents. With Chapman no more, Harridan is forced to work as a crossing guard, but confuses the car drivers nearby when a bee harasses her because of a daisy on her vest.
Cast
- Eddie Murphy as Charlie Hinton, a former marketing executive who becomes the founder of Daddy Day Care
- Jeff Garlin as Phil Ryerson, Charlie's best friend and co-founder of Daddy Day Care
- Steve Zahn as Marvin, Charlie and Phil's former colleague
- Regina King as Kim Hinton, Charlie’s wife
- Anjelica Huston as Miss Gwyneth Harridan, the headmistress of Chapman Academy
- Khamani Griffin as Ben Hinton, Charlie’s son
- Kevin Nealon as Bruce
- Jonathan Katz as Dan Kubitz, a director of social services who brings Daddy Day Care up to regulation.
- Lacey Chabert as Jennifer, Harridan’s personal assistant
- Max Burkholder as Max Ryerson, Phil’s son
- Jimmy Bennett as Tony/Flash, one of the Daddy Day Care students
- Leila Arcieri as Kelli
- Shane Baumel as Crispin
- Elle Fanning as Jamie
- Felix Achille as Dylan
- Hailey Noelle Johnson as Becca
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Peggy
- Arthur Young as Nicky
- Wallace Langham as Jim Fields
- Lisa Edelstein as Bruce's wife/Crispin's mother
- Mark Griffin as Steve
- Laura Kightlinger as Sheila
Cheap Trick appear as themselves at the Rock for Daddy Day Care charity event.
Production
Shooting began on August 1, 2002, in Los Angeles, California and wrapped on November 22.[2]
The film's poster was officially released in December of that year, with the tagline, D-Day is coming.[3]
Release
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, Daddy Day Care has an approval rating of 27% based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 4.51/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Daddy Day Care does its job of babysitting the tots. Anyone older will probably be bored."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Todd McCarthy from Variety called it "scarcely more amusing than spending ninety minutes in a pre K classroom" and a "comically undernourished junk food snack".[7]
Box office
Despite the negative critical ratings, the film was a box office success, grossing over $160 million worldwide based on a $60 million budget.[1] The film was released in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2003, and opened at No. 3, behind Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Bruce Almighty.[8] The next two weekends, the film moved down one place, before finally ending up at No. 10 on August 1.[9][10][11]
Sequels
Soon after the release of Daddy Day Care, Murphy was rumored to be involved in a sequel film, although he had not signed up for one.[12] A sequel was released on August 8, 2007, titled Daddy Day Camp, with Cuba Gooding Jr. replacing Murphy as Charlie Hinton and Sony once again distributing the film (this time under TriStar). The film was panned by critics, with a 1% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It won the Razzie Award for "Worst Prequel or Sequel". Another sequel, Grand-Daddy Day Care, was released on February 5, 2019, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on direct-to-video format. Da'Vone McDonald portrayed Charlie Hinton, who appears as a supporting character.
