DADDY DAY CARE
RATING: PG
RELEASE: May 9, 2003
TIME: 92 minutes
STARRING: Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King, Khamani Griffin, Anjelica Huston, Elle Fanning, Jimmy Bennett, and Kevin Nealon
DIRECTOR: Steve Carr
PRODUCERS: John Davis, Matt Berenson and Wyck Godfrey
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Joe Roth, Dan Kolsrud and Heidi Santelli
WRITER: Geoff Rodkey
DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures/Sony
GENRE: Comedy
INTENDED AUDIENCE: All ages
SUMMARY: Daddy Day Care is a delightful, breezy romp starring Eddie Murphy in his most family-friendly movie to date. Mr. Murphy plays an unemployed advertising executive who decides to start a day care with his best friend, a decision that leads to humorous complications.
Murphy stars with comic Jeff Garlin as they play Charlie and Phil, two busy fathers who get fired from their advertising jobs when they fail to excite some focus group children about a vegetable cereal called Veggie O’s. That means no more expensive day care for their sons at exclusive Chapman Academy.
There is some mild bathroom humor in Daddy Day Care and light foul language, but the movie is nearly perfectly wholesome otherwise. Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin are great with the little tykes. They are ably assisted by the talented Steve Zahn. There are plenty of jokes for children, as well as some jokes that will tickle the funny bone of more sophisticated teenagers and adults.
CONTENT: Moral worldview, with positive family values, including strong father and son theme, with some very light feminist, politically correct notions about men being able to run a preschool day care that also, nevertheless, undercuts some feminist notions of the hyperactive career woman; two light obscenities, one stronger obscenity is stifled, four light profanities, sounds of boy urinating, sounds of boy passing gas and light changing diaper humor in one scene; mild slapstick violence.
X2: X-MEN UNITED
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: May 2, 2003
TIME: 133 minutes
STARRING: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Alan Cumming, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos, James Marsden, and Brian Cox
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
PRODUCERS: Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Avi Arad, Stan Lee, Tom DeSanto, and Bryan Singer
WRITER: Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris
BASED ON THE COMIC BOOK SERIES
DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox
GENRE: Science Fiction
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
SUMMARY: X2: X-Men United continues the saga of the first movie, in a story about an evil military scientist who kidnaps Professor Xavier in order to destroy all mutants on earth, including the Professor’s powerful X-Men superheroes. A slam-bang comic book movie, X2 contains some surprisingly strong Christian elements, but includes some foul language, violence, and some sensual elements.
Though a bit overlong, X2 delivers the goods. It’s actually better than the first movie. Most of the actors are allowed to flesh out their characters in many interesting ways, helped along by an excellent script. The movie’s positive Christian content includes powerful redemptive elements and dramatic quotes from the Bible, but the movie has a humanist theme with strong New Age and pro-evolution elements. Parents should be cautious, therefore, about exposing their older children or younger teenagers to this sequel.
CONTENT: Light redemptive worldview with strong Christian elements including Christian hero refers to Jesus, prays and quotes Bible verses such as the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23, and with strong moral elements, marred by humanist themes, strong pro-Evolution elements and New Age elements.
