User reviews

No one could ever accuse Tyler Perry of being the soul of subtlety - either as a filmmaker or as a storyteller. His set-ups are often painfully contrived, with characters who are two-dimensional and stereotypical, and messages that are pat and overly simplistic, to put it mildly. Yet, in this era when too many black characters are either rappers, street thugs, prostitutes or drug dealers, Perry speaks to audiences yearning to see a more positive vision of the African-American experience portrayed on screen. That's certainly an admirable goal, but the problem is that Perry himself is not above indulging in many of those very same stereotypes if, in so doing, it helps him to get his message across.

In "Daddy's Little Girls," the first ethnic stereotype Perry admirably endeavors to shatter is that of the absent or indifferent urban black father. His protagonist, Monty, is a divorced dad of three who works as an auto mechanic in a garage run by none other than Louis Gossett Jr. Monty's ex has pretty much flown the coop, leaving the kids to be raised by her mother who is currently dying of lung cancer. After the woman's death, Jennifer decides she now wants to raise the children, even though she's living with a gangsta' boyfriend who's so low he even sells drugs to the kids in the neighborhood schoolyard. This sets up a fierce custody battle between Monty and Jennifer with the three girls caught in the middle.

As stated previously, it is commendable that Perry wishes to make Monty a model for young male viewers to emulate, but in order to establish Monty's bona fides as a caring father, the filmmaker for some reason has found it necessary to ratchet up the mother's vileness past the point of believability. In fact, Jennifer makes Cinderella's evil stepmother look like June Cleaver and Carol Brady in comparison. Indeed, she is so over-the-top in her villainy that one wonders how such a seemingly level-headed and sweet-tempered soul as Marty could ever have been fooled into marrying her.

Perry doesn't do much better with the main female character, a snooty, high-priced African-American lawyer named Julia, who looks down her nose on poor working-class stiffs like Monty who takes a position as her much-abused chauffeur in order to make a little money on the side. Monty soon discovers that all the over-stressed Julia needs is a good man to bring meaning to her sterile, empty life. Thus, with the character of Julia, Perry manages to insult blacks, career women and specifically black career women in one fell swoop.

The movie makes some interesting points about the role class consciousness plays in the black community, with wealthy blacks sometimes more dismissive of their less well-off counterparts than are wealthy whites. Unfortunately, this theme is played out in the context of a fairly formulaic romance between Monty and Julia, with the "little girls" of the title reduced to not much more than walk-on roles in the story. Idris Elba is appealing and solid as the sincere, hardworking Monty, while Gabrielle Union does what she can with the poorly written part of Julia.

The narrative also suffers from what first-year screen writing students (or "Crash" deriders) like to refer to as "coincidence overload," with characters bumping into one another at all-too-convenient moments or just happening to learn crucial bits of information from news stories on TV.

"Daddy's Little Girls" starts off with the best of intentions, and there are certainly some poignant, touching moments to be found in the film, but the movie is so fixated on pandering to the emotions of its audience, especially in the melodramatic final reel, that most of the goodwill one brings to the project has pretty much evaporated by the time the closing credits come rolling by.

I saw this film recently at the Black Film Maker International Film Festival here in London.

Not at all like Perry's previous films which have both been premiered at the festival in the last few years. Instead of broad Christian Cross-Dressing Gun Totting Comedy, what we have here is a gentle romantic drama with a smattering of jokes here and there.

At got to say it wasn't to bad though I have to admit I preferred the Meadea films. The performances were OK especially the leading actors Union & Elba. The story is a bit hackneyed but I guess that's the cynic in me. You kind of knew exactly how the film was going to end from the open credits. The audience I saw it with loved it.

That got me thinking why can't you see Perry's work in the UK other than at the BFM Film Festival. Why not release the films on DVD, any visit to Dalston/Brixton/Harlesden in London will tell you that's there's a great illicit trade in Perry's films.

Anyway, if you like a undemanding and somewhat unoriginal romantic drama this is just the thing for you.

Black Narcissus

"Daddy's Little Girls" is a decent/good movie that could have been a great movie. I say that it is a decent movie because the overall plot was pretty solid and the acting was very good. However, it could have been a great film if the story could have been told with greater detail and the film had been better edited.

Let's put it this way, if T.P. were to have written this film as a school paper, the teacher would have given it a C+. The theme and concept for the paper would have been sound and offered lots of potential – a solid B. However, due to punctuation errors, grammar errors, misspelled words and run-on sentences (For those who took English at Howard U – instant D)….the teacher was being nice to give T.P. a C+.

T.P. has done only one great movie – "Diary Of A Mad Black Woman". The second film was cute. This 3rd film was OK. I will give him the benefit of the doubt for this film, he probably has many other things that he is working on. However, for the next film, he better take the time to write, direct and edit a high quality product.

Monty is an honest black man working as a mechanic, financially supporting his three daughters who live with his ex-wife's mother. When his mother-in-law dies, Monty is left looking after his daughters and takes on extra work as a driver for young, pretty and very successful lawyer Julia. His first day on the job brings disaster though as one of his daughters starts a fire, forcing him to take Julia to the hospital, getting him fired and social services handing his kids to their estranged mother (who lives with the local drug dealer). Monty is forced to go for custody to keep his girls but cannot get a lawyer and only a moment of kindness from Julia sees her take his case for free. While she works with him she begins to fall for his charms despite the gulf in their social status.

I want to be clear that, although I came to this film off the back of The Wire, I did not expect it to be of the same quality (or even the same genre) and I did not come to it with my mind made up or some sort of chip on my shoulder that Elba should only do projects that Wire fans somehow approve of in line with his brilliant turn as Stringer Bell. No, I came to the film because I like him as a screen presence and was happy to see this film for what it was – a romantic drama. In the broad sweep the film is OK in very base terms but the biggest problem with it is evident from the very start. Within a few minutes of the start we have a saintly old woman coughing and come comments made about her health and I immediately said "she's not making it long into this" – fade to her funeral seconds later! This is one example but there are lots of examples of really poor development and convenient narrative jumps. This may not sound like a problem but consider the main thrust of the film is the relationship between Julia and Monty convincing and engaging.

Sadly it never does and it felt like the writers had developed this in about three stages. 1: snotty impatient dislike of Monty; 2: he's not all bad but it's not for me; 3: Monty is the love of my life. The thing is that there is literally nothing between these stages and it feels like a switch has been flicked to move from one to another with the impact on the film being that it simply doesn't feel real. This left me not caring too much about the relationship throughout. The case of the title is similarly unengaging as it doesn't ring true either – it is written to elicit emotions from the viewer but by being so lame it just didn't suck me in or produce any dramatic tension at all. It isn't all bad though because it does have a very basic charm to it and, as a daytime TV movie, it would work really well for the target audience – it is just a shame that that is the best you can say about it because of how poorly written all of it is – the final five minutes being an example of everything being tied up whether it makes total sense or not. I understand that there is an element of Capraesque community fairytale here and I have no problem with that but didn't think it excused it from being "good" in areas of writing, characters and development.

The reason for me coming to the film is one of its few strengths. Elba doesn't get anywhere near the complexity or intensity of Stringer Bell of course (not that the Emmy's would agree with my summary of his acting in that) but he still has a good presence and makes for a lovable lead character. His charm and looks does help the film get away with a lot. The harder acting role is Julia because you have to make this character change convincingly and also be horrid early on without pushing the audience away. The bad news is that this role went to Union, who doesn't have the greatest range. She cannot make it work and her performance is really simple and totally unconvincing as being a real person. Her looks do not help her that much here and the lack of reality in her character breaks the chemistry between her and Elba. The kids are cute and slightly annoying in their delivery, being too obvious in doing what they are doing. Nobody else has much to do – Gossett Jr rolls through in an attempt to add some weight to the film by his name, Smith, Ross, Williams, Vaughn and others all do the basics but not much more.

Daddy's Little Girls is a very basic film that will work best in a few years when you stumble upon on in the middle of TVM stuff in the middle of a weekday but even then it is pretty thin stuff. It relies heavily on Elba and Union's performances, both of whom try their best but don't have decent characters and simply try to charm their way through. The writing is poor as it lacks any flow or development worth talking about and it feels like it was delivered in blocks. Were it funnier, more dramatic or more engaging, this wouldn't matter but the film is not good enough to cover the development problem and it gets dull and silly very quickly with only Afro-Caribbean TVM weepy fans being left loving it.

I thought the theme for this movie was OK. It stays with a lot of things that happen in a inner city situation. Even though I am sick of movies with drug dealers in the plot. But as for Gabriella she does play another stuck up character like quite a few of her movies. As for Idris his character was OK but kinda weak in how to dealt with his situation in the movie but i guess going up against the neighborhood drug dealer that everybody scared of will do that to some. As for Tasha Smith the mother of Idris characters kids she is like a lot of females i know of where i live. Placing money and false security above the things that really matter. Gary Anthony Sturgis seems that he can only play these same kinds of characters. I haven't seen this dude do any other roles. Now to end my comment overall the movie was fairly decent. It does have a fair tale ending because the luck that Idris character had just would have never really happened. Tyler Perry makes socially aware type movies that are intended to reach people with similar issues and sending a message saying you don't have to be that way you can over come your problem if you choose to.

The biggest problem with this is that it's so totally predictable almost from the very beginning. Is there any surprise that comes up at any point in the entire movie? About the only thing thrown in that threw me off for a few minutes was the rape conviction against Monty (Idris Elba) which ended up being explained away anyway. The basis of the story, of course, was Monty's frantic need to get custody of his 3 daughters back from his ex-wife, who's hooked up with a drug dealer and seems to be into some pretty bad stuff herself. That leads to his budding relationship with Julia (Gabrielle Union) - a high powered lawyer who had employed Monty as her driver for a while, and finds herself strangely drawn to him both personally and professionally, as she ends up representing him. There's a lot of extraneous material thrown in - the community's combination of outrage and impotence against local drug dealers, the wrong side of the tracks romance between Monty and Julia, the situation the kids find themselves in when they're taken away from Monty and handed over to their mother. Sometimes it seemed as if there was a bit too much extraneous material to be honest.

What I liked about the movie was the decision to make the girls' father the good guy, and the fact that the black community living in Monty's neighbourhood was shown to be diverse and mostly good, honest folk with a few losers thrown in. I also liked the performances from Elba and Union - they worked well together - and from the 3 McClain girls (I assume sisters themselves) who played Monty's children. They were as far removed from irritating child actors as you could imagine. They were quite good.

Unfortunately, what I didn't like about this was the predictability of the whole thing. There was virtually no dramatic tension throughout, because you knew without any doubt how pretty much everything was going to turn out. That really drags a movie down in my opinion. (4/10)

There are two moments in this movies that I don't understand. One of the girls was caught at school selling drugs why wasn't the cops called especially when she was staying with her mother and her boyfriend. Two the rape case was closed it should not have disregarded. Also wouldn't the why didn't anyone say that he was falsely accused of rape. An seriously how long did the police investigating Jennifer's boyfriend two hours! The man has a reputation of selling drugs and he has three girls living under the same roof. This guy is suppose to be a big drug dealer the man only has like four thugs working for him. Why did it take the guy running his car into the other guys car for the nieghborhood to band together to take him down. This movie has a lot of padding. This movie is flat as tap water. BET plays this movie to death.

Daddy's Little Girls is my favorite Tyler Perry film so far. I am a recent fan of Tyler Perry's work my first film being Meet the Browns and ever since I was hooked. Tyler Perry works hard to make his films feel real and he never disappoints. In this film a man is trying to buy a garage while helping his three daughters grandmother take care of them. When tragedy strikes an almost never-ending battle for his children begins. As he must try and get his children back from the clutches of their drug dealing mother he is about to fail. Then a successful yet mean lawyer comes into his life just in time. With her help he might be able get his daughters back and maybe find someone to love just as all hope seemed lost.

This is probably one of Tyler Perry's most realistic films. It has some humor to help lighten the mood and some nice moments to give you a good feeling of whats about to happen.

I'll admit, I didn't think I was going to like this movie too much but I found it well worth my time. I thought it was going to be another "obnoxious/ghetto meets wealthy/elegance" type of movie I've come to expect from many of TP's movies along with many other "Black" movies but I feel that it really brought joy to my soul. While the movie overall lacked many things that, like many other TP movies, made it lack the true quality of a well-crafted film, the overall plot brings a sense of happiness.

I think the cast was one of the strong points of the movie, especially Gabby who did a really good job of shining some light on the "smart, sexy, successful black woman who just can't find a decent man" phenomenon that I've come to find was becoming more and more common based on some research. I WILL say that her character (Julia) kind of reminds me of another girl named Eva played by someone else. If only I could remember who. Idris delivers a good performance we've come to expect from seeing The Wire and Luther. However, you kind of get tired of his character's being cornered into "The Damsel in Distress". The performance from Tasha Smith was also something worth pointing out. Alike her character from Meet the Browns, this movie does a better job of exposing her talent. Watching the movie, I couldn't help but think "Is she acting or is she just really a b****"? Gary Sturgis also delivered a performance worth recognizing. Unfortunately, I think the PG-13 rating really hindered his ability to expose his character for who he really was.

With all that said, I think there were a few loopholes in the film. First, there was a scene where Julia discovers Monty's past which included him being incarcerated for rape. It later turns out he was "wrongfully accused" which, in that case, would've been useless in court. Julia asks Monty about it without looking for a thorough explanation. When Monty fails to give her the proper answer, she storms off calling him a liar. How could he possibly let her leave without a detailed explanation and why did she call him a liar if when she asked him, he was about to reveal something but was interrupted by a phone call she had to take? In other words, he never said he was hiding anything. Also, how is it possible that Monty doesn't originally receive custody if, again, he was found not guilty of rape while the judge later asks the kid's mom and her boyfriend (Jennifer and Joseph) what they do for work. They couldn't answer the question. Why would a judge miss this earlier in the movie?

I think fixing the loopholes would've made this movie much more recognizable to the public. There were scenes I couldn't help but notice was real including the scene after Monty discovers his daughter's wound. Good flick but easily could've been better

Monty (Idris Elba) is a mechanic trying to keep his ex-wife Jennifer (Tasha Smith) from gaining custody of their three little girls since she's been involved with a powerful local drug dealer. When he convinces the smart and beautiful attorney Julia (Gabrielle Union) to assist him, sparks begin to fly.

I wish I could say that Daddy's Little Girls was a good film but it barely ranks as an average one. I blame Tyler Perry for the film's failure because he created the inconsistent direction and messy script. Instead of developing a realistic situation with relatable characters, he created everything as very improbable and the film was kind of emotionally distant. The screenplay was messy because of all the poorly written characters. All of the "bad guys" were so over the top and all of their actions were ridiculous. We never get a real reason as to why Jennifer wants her kids back. Once the character is introduced, it becomes hard to believe that the judge would even consider giving her the kids since her behavior is pretty vile. It wasn't just her but all of the characters. Perry made sure that the viewer knew who the bad guys were and who the good guys were.

Behind the camera, things weren't much better. I didn't like how Perry focused more on the relationship between Monty and Julia than on the relationship between Monty and his kids. I thought it just defeated the whole purpose of the film. Also, the kids were so rude to Julia when they first met her and for no reason either. She was trying to help and they weren't giving her a chance. It just made so sense for them to act that way. Another thing, the tone was inconsistent. In one scene, Perry would be shown having a great time with Julia and then in the next scene, the three girls were suffering while living with their mother. The ending was a bit cartoon-ish but still it was decent and a little heartwarming.

Despite the weak material, there were actually a few good performances. Gabrielle Union was pretty good as Julia. Sure, her character was pretty annoying but she still did a fine job in the role. Idris Elba also gave a pretty good performance. It was easy to feel for his character and he also had great chemistry with Union. Tasha Smith was very unconvincing and annoyingly over the top. Overall, the film wasn't as good as I was hoping it to be. There were a few heartwarming moments and fine performances but other than that, the movie didn't really do anything for me. Rating 5/10

I guess I am one of the biggest dopes in this country, but I love Daddy's Little Girls. I have seen it three times already. I loved Gabrielle Union and she played the part well. Idris Elba was good too! I liked the fact that Tyler Perry omitted the Madea character this time, nice change. I enjoyed seeing familiar faces in this movie, which added a nice touch. I cannot complain Mr. Perry did a pretty good job and I am looking forward seeing another movie or play. My money was well spent and I don't feel guilty. If you are in the mood for a little drama, comedy and romance, then this is the movie to see. I guarantee you will enjoy it.

This movie was not exactly my cup of tea. It had some moments where i thought the direction was lacking, some parts of the plot where weaker than others, but the main focus of the movie (Monty's attempt to gain custody of his children) was actually quite engaging. I don't like romance movies as a rule and i don't think that the romance aspect of this film really helped it any way, but it was what it was, and it was not a bottom 100 film as it's current ranking would suggest (overall 2.5, #81 bottom 100, June 24th 2007.) could the screenplay have used some redrafting, revising, and editing? yes. Should Tyler Perry have sought a more experienced director for collaborative help? it wouldn't have hurt. Is this a bad film? Absolutely not.

The acting by the principle cast was very strong, considering the up and down nature of the script they carried it off well. Idris Elba was fantastic in portraying his role, i felt that some his back story was weakly written and flimsy but he made the best of it and he was believable and natural in the "here and now" of the film.

If you are one who likes sentimental films about strong morals and family you would enjoy this film. it is watchable. and the journey taken by the Monty is intriguing. I feel the movie could have been better, but if this is what Perry feels he was shooting for then so be it. but it isn't a bottom 100 film.

Look i get it, the year this came out there were calls for more recognition for black actors and movies. The problem was until I see a better one, they'll not be the level of recognition the black community wants to see. This movie had a real meaning, hidden messages which I'm very sure most women would have chosen to ignore and that's we cannot continue to demand fathers take equal responsibility for children and not give them equal rights. Lots of messages also including how decent men exist but also live in the real world and aren't all rich, paying for their own legal fees and biting their tongue with whatever the mother and others throw at them. A case lots and lots of men can relate to. The downside however outweighs the good; a very melodramatic, cheap, over the top and poorly executed story and for a comedy, not the slightest bit funny. The final act should be the most interesting, instead it's totally ridiculous. Unfortunately, although Idris in a fan of, this is the seventh movie of his I've seen which are very poorly put together. A note as well we understand the lingo and the phrases like wid chu, babe, ya saying, all of that... but half the film Monty is very well spoken which is a reason the lawyer noticed him, the other half of the film he's a typical black american who isn't so well spoken at all. These inconsistencies are another reason this film really sucked.

Adorable. Finally a good Tyler Perry film. Gabrielle Union's character was a b word in the beginning and very annoying, but it makes sense once you know her story. Then you have Idris just trying to be a loving father coming out of a bad situation that was really unfortunate. The love between them once it started to happen was so cute to me. I really loved it and I was happy with the ending.

It has a lot of themes that touch on real life. It's not as crazy as it seems for these two to fall in love. I recommend if you're looking for a black love kinda film. It gets your emotions going and you wanna scream at the characters sometimes, but I had fun watching.

Unlike one of the other comments I read about Tyler Perry's latest film, I thought this was well done. The violence in this movie is what real life is like. And though, it is not suitable for young children or "our boys and girls", there is a reason it is rated PG-13. This isn't a feel-good family and children's movie. Kids 13 and older have most likely seen equal to or more severe fighting walking through the halls of their schools (as have I). And lets be real here - your typical 14 year old freshman in high school kid is not gonna spend $6.75 on a movie called "Daddy's Little Girls", am I right? I couldn't agree more that violence is not the answer - there's no doubt about that. But Tyler Perry's movie's are known for real life day-to-day struggles and how to overcome hard times. And if I found out that a drug dealer was beating my 5 year old daughter and leaving dark bruises on her tiny back, I would feel like doing the exact same thing. I'm so tired of cheesy unrealistic movies with dull humor. Thank you Tyler Perry for these films. You are a genius!

Gabrielle Union stars in her usual role, a stuck up "bitch" who REALLY needs love but refuses to let it find her because she had a previous bad relationship. She must control the situation and everything around it, and is easily coaxed by the other females around her. Most of the acting was pretty bad but the children were cute. The underlying story that is in ALL of Tyler Perry's writings "trust God and he will never leave you" is all over this movie. I think it is a good story to share with the family but it's just SO BANAL that I don't think I will want to see it again. The soundtrack seems like it will be awesome though. I just don't understand why he never puts that dang cell phone down or in his pocket or something!

Great story,great message great cast a film to be put on the watch list,hope this is up for a award.

Women/Girls in distress Knight rides in to save the day, hero/ heroine falls in love, they live happily ever after! Rinse and Repeat....That is ALL Tyler Perry movies. His last name should be GRIMM because his movies are Fairy Tales!!!