Grand-Daddy Day Care

I liked it, I mean it isn't going to win any awards for groundbreaking ideas, but it was a movie that I made it through in one sitting (with my attention span that's saying something). I've seen reviews saying "ageist", I don't see it. There's a guy who sees and opportunity for making money from people pawning off a group of people who are typically seen as incapable or in the way, but a heartwarming tale ensues with a good amount of head trauma. Basically a coming of age movie for an adult.

Seeing these actors from the 70s and 80s try to lift this pathetic script into a comedy is sad and pathetic. This movie has as many laughs as a book of carpet samples. Just terrible.

OK, this came up on Bounce, broadcast TV, so it is not like I paid anything. Firstly, the actors were great. I love Danny Trejo. I was astonished to see how obese George Wendt has gotten. He is in a life-threatening situation, so I guess that is one way to make me care about a character, wondering if he will have a stroke on camera.

The script was a bit formulaic, but when the ex-con played by Trejo knew not to let a government employee into the house, I felt the need to write a review to defend the movie against all the negative reviews. Learn from Danny, never let a government employee into your house. (Yes, I do know they don't need a warrant to inspect a home business, but it's OK dramatic license.) I thought the interplay of a street-smart jail-house lawyer and a nice middle-class family was well done.

This movie was a little "corporate," in the somewhat unbelievable diversity of the cast, I don't want to watch a movie based on demographics, but on believable relationships. But it was not too far off the mark, and having seen friends go to assisted living homes, with a stint in a nursing home now and then, there was charm to the plot, and dialog, and characters.

I liked the sub-plot of the shy son liking the cute girl. He might have been type-cast, but he really came across like a nice shy kid, so I really liked that actor. He did his role very well.

This is not a sit-com humor, it is more subtle and gentle, so don't look for howling snarky knee-slappers, just a nice knowing chuckle, especially if you have hung around a retirement village at all.

Thanks to IMDb, I looked up the writers, Robbie Fox and David H. Steinberg. These guys are not slouches, they did pretty good job making a nice clean entertaining movie. The direction is pretty good too, like the kid's audition sequence inter-woven with a montage. Not Citizen Kane, but good solid stuff.

I also liked that the government guy was a pain, and officious, and a nice bureaucrat just doing horrible things since he felt he could. The banality of evil.

OK, the movie has 15 minutes left, including the commercials. I am glad I stuck it out, it's actually interesting to me to see what happens. What more can you ask of a free movie?

As a parting note, I clean up a joke told me by a pal that spent a little time in San Quentin: "I spent so many years pleasuring myself in the shower, now that I am out, I can only make love to my wife when it rains."

A questionable user review on IMDB gives it a 10/10 and says "I Love Eddie Murphy". I can only hope that you've actually seen the film and are just trolling the rest of us, because this movie is definitely NOT a 10/10 and, well, Eddie Murphy isn't even starring in it.

This 3rd entry in the Daddy Day Care films is a straight to video film which has absolutely nothing to do with the first two (Daddy Day Care and Daddy Day Camp). In fact, the star isn't Eddie Murphy but someone who suspiciously looks and acts like him: Reno Wilson. However, this isn't the first time that the writers of Daddy Day Car gave us the ol' switcheroo. Remember, Cuba Gooding Jr. was brought in for Daddy Day Camp to take over from Eddie Murphy, and yes he pretty much cosplayed as Eddie in that film too. It's almost as if writers come up with a formula and can't seem to stray away from it? Nah....must be coincidence.

The basic premise is that this guy, Frank Collins, is writer. He's staying at home to work on his next masterpiece but he also has to take care of, and entertain, his aging father-in-law played by Machete himself, the one and only Danny Trejo. He's old, noisy, and annoying and preventing Collins from finishing his work. One thing leads to another, more old people show up, and it becomes a business opportunity full of slapstick comedy, poop jokes, and drug fueled shenanigans. The problem is that the writing isn't great so the comedy bits feel forced and unfunny.

It might be worth your time, but only as a last resort if you can't find anything better to watch.

Grand-Daddy Day Care (2019) is mildly amusing at times. It is a bit predictable and formulaic. Its faults are often more easily recognized than its virtues. Unfortunately, it often seems to shoot itself in the foot by emphasizing political correctitude over humor.

Frank (Reno Wilson) is an African-American married to Hispanic-American Emma (Roxana Ortega), which provides an element of politically-correct, socially-aware diversity and inclusion, as well as comedic and dramatic opportunities for conflict over cultural differences. But these aren't explored. The current Hollywood ethos demands that characters be interchangeable. James Bond doesn't need to be Scottish or even British, Anglo-Saxon or male. He could be a black female. But interchangeable characters tend to be shallow. Filmmakers seem to think audiences want diversity, rather than complex, three-dimensional characters and seem loath to suggest any conflicts arising out of cultural differences, as that might be perceived as demeaning one culture or the other.

Emma's father Eduardo (movie tough guy Danny Trejo) never approved of Frank and thought he wasn't good enough for his daughter, but the reasons are left vague. The characters aren't given any challenge to overcome. Instead, the conflict is minimized by saying that every father feels that way - it's nothing personal. Besides, Eduardo secretly admires Frank. But this also minimizes the potential for drama and comedy.

Frank's son Jordan (Anthony Gonzalez) is enamored with classmate Annie (Jayden Bartels) who seems to be the most beautiful girl at school. Jordan is awkward, insecure, awkward and inexperienced. Annie is popular, talented, outgoing and inexplicably unattached, but interested in Jordan for reasons that are not at all clear. Again, rather than developing conflicts for comedic potential, they are ignored or minimized. Yes, she is interested, but her concept of a steamy relationship seems to be hanging out together while maintaining an appropriate physical separation and discussing nothing at all while staring off into space contemplating the wonderfulness of inclusion riders.

It's distressing to think this might represent the future of comedy in a society more concerned with political correctitude and not triggering snowflakes than making people laugh at the differences that simultaneously separate and unite us. John Vorhaus defines comedy as truth and pain. Grand-Daddy Day Care seems determined to avoid pain. But in so doing, it also avoids truth. We're given shallow two-dimensional caricatures rather than fully-developed characters. But aren't they diverse?