After three flops in a row that lost $150 million in 16 months, Eddie Murphy has found box-office salvation with Daddy Day Care. Released in the week Americans are marking Mother's Day (May 11), the comedy earned an estimated $27.5 million in three days, following the $41 million gross by chart topper X2: X-Men United.
Murphy plays an advertising executive who, along with his partner Phil (Jeff Garlin), is fired from his job as a product pitch man. The dotcom industry is facing a bleak future and the personal future of the two men does not seem promising.
The pair come up with what they think is a grand idea of running a day care service, but soon learn that looking after kids is not fun. Besides, they have to compete with a rival day care centre operator (Anjelica Huston) who firmly believes children are miniature adults and have to be treated as such.
But Murphy and Garlin remain optimistic, despite many stumbles. Working on the premise that taking care of 10 kids can't be any more difficult than taking care of one or two, the men run into an awful lot of problems. Soon, they realise they know nothing about sugar rushes or the hidden talent some children have for destroying toys -- and even furniture.
However, they learn the basics day by day, expand their business and, most important, bond with their own children.
Though most critics found Daddy Day Care unamusing with Manohla Dargis observing in Los Angeles Times that Murphy's latest comic endeavour makes it clear his sliding career is in need of serious revamping, and Peter Travers declaring in Rolling Stone that Murphy looks comatose delivering the played-out poopy jokes -- the movie is on its way to becoming a $80-85 million hit. It may even gross over $100 million, coming close to the $115 million Dr Dolittle 2 grossed two years ago. Daddy Day Care is directed by Steve Carr, who had earlier joined hands with Murphy on Dr Dolittle 2.
Murphy's career had derailed following the $60 million worldwide gross for Showtime, in which he was paired with Robert DeNiro. Then there was The Adventures of Pluto Nash, which cost $110 million, but grossed a disastrous $7 million worldwide, followed by I Spy, which grossed about $40 million.
'With Eddie Murphy, people forgive the things that don't work,' Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, which produced the new film for Columbia, told Reuters. He described Murphy as 'the next Bill Cosby' and someone who genuinely appeals to the masses.
More a sentimental film than a comedy, Daddy Day Care would have gained considerably with half-a-dozen good jokes. And yet, it could continue to do well in what is known as the family market.
Murphy can still exude a lot of charm, and here, with the help of two other affable actors -- Steve Zahn and Garlin -- he keeps the movie's genial atmosphere intact for a considerable amount of time.
