Monday, March 22, 2010

Stay away from 'Daddy Day Camp'

Daddy Day Camp (2007)
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rae, Lochlyn Munroe, Spensir Bridges, Dallin Boyce, Telise Galanis, and Tamala Jones
Director: Fred Savage
Rating: Two of Ten Stars

In "Daddy Day Camp" the operator of a daycare center (Gooding) branches out into running a day camp. Along the way, he reconnects both with his father and his son (Bridges).


There's a friend of mine who will NEVER get to pick the movie ever again. She's Three for Three in picking garbage! It'll be me or her kid who picks the films from now on, even if she offers to pay my way!

Speaking of the kid, he enjoyed this film--although not as much as "Underdog", he said. And he did spend a lot of time laughing, so this is a movie that appeals to kids to a degree. Probably in the same way a McDonald's hamburger or Recees Peanutbutter Cup appeals to them. It's junk, but it's fun to consume.

There is really nothing good I can about this movie, other than what was in the paragraph above. The acting is universally horrible (Gooding is an Oscar winner, right? Maybe he should stay away from comedy?), the child actors mostly come across as annoying instead of likable, and while the father-son reconnection storyline is not bad, it's executed in a hamfisted way that it feels trite. To make matters worse, it doesn't feel like any of the characters learned anything from the lessons the movie seemed to want to teach.

A failure on every level, "Daddy Day Camp" is a movie to stay away from. The crude humor is sure to amuse undiscriminating youngsters, but there's not enough here for adults to enjoy.

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