Daddy Day Camp
Daddy Day Camp is a 2007 American comedy film starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and directed by Fred Savage in his film directorial debut. It is the second installment in the Daddy Day Care film series.
The film was produced by Revolution Studios and released by TriStar Pictures, unlike its predecessor, which was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film was released in the United States on August 8, 2007. The film was panned by film critics. It has a 1% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is considered to be one of the worst sequels ever produced but the film was a modest box office success grossing $18.2 million against a $6 million budget.
Plot
Four years after starting their daycare, Charlie and Phil take their kids to Camp Driftwood, a camp they attended as kids back in 1977. But once there, they discover that Driftwood is now completely falling to ruins and no longer the kindhearted camp site of their time. To save the run down site, Charlie and Phil buy a partnership from the older man who ran it when they were children, after the other partner runs off on vacation.They run into misadventures along the way when Lance Warner, Charlie's childhood rival, who now runs the luxurious rival camp Canola, is eager to buy Driftwood just so that he can tear it down. The first day of camp turns out to be a disaster involving a skunk and a bathroom explosion.
As a result, most of the parents pull their kids from the camp and request refunds, but Charlie and Phil already spent all the money on repairs, leaving Driftwood with only 7 campers instead of the original 35, and in need of help to improve their financial situation. Charlie calls his military father, Colonel Buck Hinton, for help to whip the kids into shape, since they have problems following orders. The next day, Driftwood is raided by Canola, which has been joined by the 28 campers who left Driftwood. Buck arrives and starts training the campers easily until Canola raids them once again.
After getting revenge on Lance for getting his campers to steal the Driftwood flag, he responds by challenging Driftwood to the Camp Olympiad, so the kids start training for it. The kids admire Buck because of his military ways and support, but Charlie disapproves as he recounts that he doesn't want the kids to become like Buck because Charlie believes that Buck only cares about toughness and that Charlie was a disappointment to him. Charlie starts to regret his decision to call Buck when his son runs off to the woods after some campers tease him about his father's over-protectiveness because his grandpa Buck told him that he became 'tough' when he ran off to the woods. They find him, but when Charlie complains to Phil about Buck, Buck overhears their conversation and leaves camp.
On the day of the Olympiad, the others find out that Buck has left. Seeing the kids discouraged, Charlie goes to find Buck and bring him back, resolving all his problems with his dad in the process. When they return, the kids report that they found out that Camp Canola has cheated in the Olympiad, and have been doing so for several past years; this is especially true when it's revealed that Charlie lost to Lance when they were kids. Buck formulates a plan to win against Canola by outsmarting them. After outnumbering the Canola through to the finals, Charlie lets Ben do the climbing course, since Ben knows how to climb, but he falls. However, Becca shows everyone that Lance greased the wall, exposing the truth that Lance cheated in every game in the Olympiad to everyone. Ben uses the tree next to the wall with enough time left to hit the bell, causing Driftwood to win the Olympiad.
Fed up with Lance denying being his father, Lance's son, Bobby, turns against Lance and angrily kicks him, making Lance stumble backward into the wall's supports, which also causes the wall to collapse on top of Canola's trophies, smashing them instantly and causing Lance to break down crying. Due to Driftwood's victory, all of the parents who sent their kids to Canola originally, including those who pulled their kids from Driftwood, then tell Charlie that Canola might not set the best example for their kids and request permission to send their kids to Driftwood, thus saving it from foreclosure.
Cast
- Cuba Gooding Jr. as Charlie Hinton, the co-owner of Daddy Day Camp and teacher. He was played by Eddie Murphy in the original film.
- Lochlyn Munro as Lance Warner, Charlie's childhood enemy, and the owner of the rival camp Canola.
- Richard Gant as Col. Buck Hinton, Charlie's estranged father. He is a military officer who takes army tasks very seriously. However, he displays a soft spot for his grandson, Ben, as well as the other campers.
- Paul Rae as Phil Ryerson, co owner of Daddy Day Camp, Charlie's best friend. He was played by Jeff Garlin in the original film.
- Tamala Jones as Kim Hinton, Charlie's wife. She was played by Regina King in the original film.
- Josh McLerran as Dale, an oafish young counselor at Camp Driftwood and the driver for the camp's bus. He is a replacement for the character "Marvin", who was played by Steve Zahn in the original film.
- Spencir Bridges as Ben Hinton, Charlie's son. He was played by Khamani Griffin in the original film.
- Brian Doyle-Murray as "Uncle" Morty, former owner of Camp Driftwood.
- Dallin Boyce as Max Ryerson, Phil's son and Ben's best friend. He was played by Max Burkholder in the original film.
- Telise Galanis as Juliette, one of the campers whom Robert likes.
- Molly Jepson as Becca, a smart girl and a student at Daddy Day Camp. She was played by Hailey Noelle Johnson in the original film. She, other than Ben and Max, is the only child in the camp who appeared in the first film.
- Sean Patrick Flaherty as Robert "Bobby" Jefferson Warner, Lance's bratty, brainless and hypocritical son, whom he denies having since he hates kids.
- Taggart Hurtubise as Carl, the more independent six year old brother of Robert.
- Tad D'Agostino as Robert, a shy, nerdy and socially awkward boy who falls for Juliette.
- Tyger Rawlings as Billy, a heavyweight bully, who likes to make other people bleed.
- Talon G. Ackerman as Jack Mayhoffer, a nerdy boy. He has a frequently gets stomach and vomits carefully.
- Jennifer Lyon as Mrs. Simmons
Production
From August 23–October 4, 2006, Daddy Day Camp was set and filmed in Park City, and Provo, Utah.
Reception
Box office
Daddy Day Camp grossed $13.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $4.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $18.2 million.On opening day Daddy Day Camp grossed $773,706, and grossed $3,402,678 on opening weekend on over 2,000 screens, coming in 9th place. It went on to gross $18.2 million worldwide making it a modest box office success.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 1% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 2.28/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A mirthless, fairly desperate family film, Daddy Day Camp relies too heavily on bodily functions for comedic effect, resulting in plenty of cheap gags, but no laughs." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 13 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Nathan Rabin from The A.V. Club gave the film a rare "F" grade.