We’re coming up on summer break, and that means a lot of you are going to be working as Camp Counselors. How better to get in the mood for that than by watching two grown men try to take care of a dozen toddlers? AKA let’s watch Daddy Day Care.
Daddy Day Care is about two workaholic men (Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin) who get fired from their white-collar jobs and, in order to make ends meet, start their own day care. Their philosophy is essentially “Oh god what are we doing,” but eventually morphs into “Let the kids have fun.” Neither of these mantras go over well with Mrs. Harridan (Anjelica Huston), whose preschool has SAT-prep.
When I first sat down to watch Daddy Day Care this week, I had a headache. This is not the type of movie you should watch when you have a headache. If I had to describe it in two words, I would pick “chaotic kids,” which basically means there is a LOT of screaming and shouting.
This movie doesn’t rely on subtle jokes or clever puns to be funny. While those are occasionally present, the majority of the humor in Daddy Day Care is good old-fashioned physical comedy. We have people being chased by llamas and goats, swarmed by bees (twice), finding a tarantula on their head. We have more people falling than you know what do with. Heck, we even have a scene where a man in a carrot suit tackles a man wearing a broccoli suit.
Daddy Day Care doesn’t worry about being hoity toity, or appealing to “sophisticated” audiences. This is a movie for little kids, about little kids. And do you know what kids find funny? Poop jokes and grown men wearing sparkly blue eyeshadow.
Even with all this “low humor,” Daddy Day Care doesn’t shy away from theme and meaning. You know how I said the two words that best describe this movie are “chaotic kids”? Let me revise that to “kids having fun.” That’s what this movie is about. Fun. Kids shouldn’t have to wear suits and ties and learn five languages before the age of five. Just like how adults shouldn’t have to work at a job that makes them miserable. There’s a time and a place for responsibility, yes, but having fun and spending time with your family and doing what you actually want to do shouldn’t be sacrificed.
Another subject that Daddy Day Care talks extensively about is gender roles. Now, you could write a whole essay about how this movie portrays men and women, but I’ll just give you what I see as the bottom line: This movie is about a working mom who loves her son, and about two stay-at-home dads who love their kids. That’s it.
So go watch this movie through the eyes of a five-year-old. Laugh at the poop jokes and the many many people who fall on their butts. Just enjoy yourself.
Pictures: moviepostershop.com; iamnotastalker.com; moviestillsdb.com; allmoviesilike.wordpress.com