Film Reviews

Daddy Day Camp

• Rating:
• Director: Fred Savage.
• Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Tamala Jones, Paul Rae, Josh McLerran.
• Details: US / 89mins (PG)

Two questions: Whatever happened to Baby Jane and Cuba Gooding Jr.? We all know the answer to the former but what about the latter? To quote the man in his only great performance in Boyz N Da Hood: "I'm sick of this sh*t." So are we, Cuba, so are we. Gooding Jr. is a good actor when he wants to be; problem is that he never wants to be. For every Boyz N Da Hood, there's a Lightning Jack; for every Rod Tidwell, there's a Dorris Miller (his unfortunately-named character from Pearl Harbour). Too many Rat Races and Boat Trips later, Gooding Jr. is assigned to the 'shame, that' bin. He's made himself a rich man scraping the bottom of the barrel, but is he happy? Probably. In a sequel-of-sorts to Eddie Murphy's dire Daddy Day Care, Daddy Day Camp is a new low in a career of lows. Cuba plays Charlie Hinton who, along with his mate Phil (Rae), take their kids to day camp. On arrival, the pair discover that the camp has been closed down, but the owner (Brian Doyle-Murray) convinces them into a partnership that will help ignite the falling profits. Next door, a camp run by Charlie's childhood foe compete with them in the camp Olympics. Or something. The expected zaniness and fart jokes are all present, but the gags are so poor, they'd put you in a bad mood.

Review by Gavin Burke