Movie Review: Daddy Day Care

Eddie Murphy goes from talking to the animals in the Doc Dolittle movies to conversing with a gaggle of 4-year-olds in Daddy Day Care. When will this poor comic actor get a break?

When ad executives Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin (of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm") get fired for failing to sell a "veggie" cereal, they become stay-at-home Mr. Moms until they get a brainstorm; if they can care for a couple of kids, why not ten? They'll just start a day-care center. When they realize that they can't communicate too well with 4-year-olds, they decide to add Steve Zahn to the mix because he's an overgrown "trekkie" who can speak kid Lingo (especially that of one kid who speaks Klingon).

All is going pretty well until posh daycare snob Miss Harridan (Anjelica Huston), whose Chapman Academy treats kids like miniature adults, goes ballistic over the loss of every kid from her preschool when their parents sign them up with Eddie and pals. A war for rugrat dominance is on.

Remember when Eddie Murphy did edgy comedy? Then he became more family friendly with the Dolittle films and now, he's super-daddy. Granted Eddie does relate to kids really well and a few of the laughs in Daddy Day Care are entertaining, but much more so if you are under 12. Granted, the kids are pretty cute, especially a little boy who thinks he's "The Flash" from the comic books until Eddie helps him find his own identity. But kids on a suger rush destroying stuff right and left gets kind of old rather quickly.

Murphy, Garlin and Steve Zahn (Drew Barrymore's dippy hubby in Riding in Cars with Boys) are all very talented but there should have been more material here for them to play with; something for older kids, teens and whole families, not just for the pottie humor set. However, if you have a younger bro or sis or are babysitting, this one might keep the rugrats occupied.