I ultimately decided to give this film a chance despite its awful critical reviews based upon my experience that low-brow comedies are often brutally panned when in fact they achieve precisely what they set out to achieve by providing low-brow laughs. Roger Ebert is one of my favorite film critics, a guy who does not normally hold all films against the requirements for excellence, but after I finished viewing the recent low-IQ comedy "Old School" for the second time in a row, I was disappointed that Ebert hated it so much. Thus, I figured how bad could "Daddy Day Care" really be?
The answer: really bad. Really, really bad.
You could do worse ("Wrong Turn" may still be playing at a theatre near you), but this is just the sort of formulaic Hollywood psuedo-family comedy that is so tried and true it should work, but falls short in every laughless scene. The formula is remarkable similar to films like "Liar, Liar", except this one simply doesn't have the same oomph that made that stupid comedy somewhat watchable. Most of the adult actors appear bored with the picture themselves and probably angry with their agents for letting them sign the contracts, and the only amusing moments are provided by a few of the children (a la "Kindergarten Cop") and surprisingly by Steve Zahn as a socially-challenged Star Trek/comic book geek who just so happens to deal extraordinarily well with children. (When asked why, he responds, "I read Dr. Spock's book on child development. It's not about Star Trek!")
Some might advise you wait until video or DVD for this one, but I suggest you only view the trailer - it literally contains the only good parts to the film.
3/10
The answer: really bad. Really, really bad.
You could do worse ("Wrong Turn" may still be playing at a theatre near you), but this is just the sort of formulaic Hollywood psuedo-family comedy that is so tried and true it should work, but falls short in every laughless scene. The formula is remarkable similar to films like "Liar, Liar", except this one simply doesn't have the same oomph that made that stupid comedy somewhat watchable. Most of the adult actors appear bored with the picture themselves and probably angry with their agents for letting them sign the contracts, and the only amusing moments are provided by a few of the children (a la "Kindergarten Cop") and surprisingly by Steve Zahn as a socially-challenged Star Trek/comic book geek who just so happens to deal extraordinarily well with children. (When asked why, he responds, "I read Dr. Spock's book on child development. It's not about Star Trek!")
Some might advise you wait until video or DVD for this one, but I suggest you only view the trailer - it literally contains the only good parts to the film.
3/10