Daddy Day Camp
DVD 
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Director:
Fred Savage Actors: Cuba Gooding Jr. Lochlyn Munro Richard Gant Rating:
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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
Two fathers use their expertise from starting a day care system to keep a rundown camp afloat.
IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?
Originally planned as a straight-to-DVD release, Sony instead decided to unleash DADDY DAY CAMP in theaters in what I'm assuming was an attempt for population control, since the film's essentially nothing more than a 90 minute pro-abortion PSA. At first I assumed this was a sequel only in name, with an all-new assortment of characters, but in reality the writers were simply too lazy to come up with any of their own characters so they just reused the same ones from the last film and then recast the actors.
Taking over for Eddie Murphy is, appropriately enough, Cuba Gooding Jr., another once-respected African American actor turned laughing stock. The extent of his "acting" here involves mostly mugging aggressively for the camera and flailing his arms about, as well as doing everything in his power to eliminate that last remaining shred of dignity he gained from winning that Oscar so many years ago. Also replaced is Murphy's sidekick character (because hell, you already got rid of the lead actor, so why stop there?), previously played by the fitfully amusing Jeff Garlin, now played by no-name actor Paul Rae, delivering so little in the way of personality that you'll probably forget about his existence even while he resides onscreen.
As is such with any predictably god awful family film that’s script was likely scribed on napkins and sheets of toilet paper, the conflict here comes courtesy of a cackling villain. In this case, he's a wealthy one-upping douchebag without the slightest hint of a moral compass, and his only goal is to best Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character, regardless of him having done nothing to deserve it. All this may sound similar if you made the mistake of watching CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2, since they basically share the exact same storyline, albeit with a minor difference: this one's is executed much more poorly (if that's even possible).
The running time for DADDY DAY CAMP is padded out with around half a dozen montages, most of which include some variation of the two lead characters having something bad happen to them, and then set to unbearable family-friendly rock songs. It also features a collection of some of the worst children actors ever seen in a theatrical release, clearly aided by the lack of any real direction, since half the time the young actors seem to be standing blank-faced while they do their darndest to avoid looking at the camera. It doesn't help that their dialogue is nothing more than a chain of obnoxiously calculated one-liners that actual children would never realistically say.
In case it wasn't already obvious, there are no jokes in this film—merely over-the-top pre-school-level gags coupled with a madcap score that does the helpful job of alerting you when there's supposed to be a joke. If you end up watching it with your kid, I'd recommend having a pillow nearby so you can scream into it.
Taking over for Eddie Murphy is, appropriately enough, Cuba Gooding Jr., another once-respected African American actor turned laughing stock. The extent of his "acting" here involves mostly mugging aggressively for the camera and flailing his arms about, as well as doing everything in his power to eliminate that last remaining shred of dignity he gained from winning that Oscar so many years ago. Also replaced is Murphy's sidekick character (because hell, you already got rid of the lead actor, so why stop there?), previously played by the fitfully amusing Jeff Garlin, now played by no-name actor Paul Rae, delivering so little in the way of personality that you'll probably forget about his existence even while he resides onscreen.
As is such with any predictably god awful family film that’s script was likely scribed on napkins and sheets of toilet paper, the conflict here comes courtesy of a cackling villain. In this case, he's a wealthy one-upping douchebag without the slightest hint of a moral compass, and his only goal is to best Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character, regardless of him having done nothing to deserve it. All this may sound similar if you made the mistake of watching CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2, since they basically share the exact same storyline, albeit with a minor difference: this one's is executed much more poorly (if that's even possible).
The running time for DADDY DAY CAMP is padded out with around half a dozen montages, most of which include some variation of the two lead characters having something bad happen to them, and then set to unbearable family-friendly rock songs. It also features a collection of some of the worst children actors ever seen in a theatrical release, clearly aided by the lack of any real direction, since half the time the young actors seem to be standing blank-faced while they do their darndest to avoid looking at the camera. It doesn't help that their dialogue is nothing more than a chain of obnoxiously calculated one-liners that actual children would never realistically say.
In case it wasn't already obvious, there are no jokes in this film—merely over-the-top pre-school-level gags coupled with a madcap score that does the helpful job of alerting you when there's supposed to be a joke. If you end up watching it with your kid, I'd recommend having a pillow nearby so you can scream into it.
THE EXTRAS
I have never been so grateful to receive so little in the way of special features.
How I Spent My Summer: Making Daddy Day Camp (11:45): An overlong promo piece disguised as a making-of featurette.
Also included are an interactive quiz called What I Learned at Camp (which, honest to God, asks questions pertaining to the featurette and not the film) and a series of Previews.
How I Spent My Summer: Making Daddy Day Camp (11:45): An overlong promo piece disguised as a making-of featurette.
Also included are an interactive quiz called What I Learned at Camp (which, honest to God, asks questions pertaining to the featurette and not the film) and a series of Previews.
FINAL DIAGNOSIS
Oh I get it, Cuba Gooding Jr. was almost gruesomely impaled by a series of falling arrows. Ha ha, now the fat guy and the kids are being stung horribly by a swarm of vicious bees. LOL, every living soul on the camp was almost vaporized by a methane explosion. Talk about a fun and silly family film! And if that weren't enough, they've managed to litter it with vomit and fart jokes galore, and even a gag where a kid gets pelted with a water balloon full of urine. Oh ho ho, my sides! Talk about quality entertainment!
