Daddy's Little Girls

Tyler Perry's Medea-less tale of a father trying to raise his daughters but finding trouble from the girls mother who has taken up with a drug dealer.

Good little movie with a nice sense of place. Certainly moralistic and a tad simplistic (as all his stories are), but enjoyable none the less. Its a good film but has little that will make it stand out from the rest other than its good film. (I'm left to wonder if Perry's rather busy dance card will hurt his film out put since with a TV show and now several films a year I have to wonder if he will be able to craft films that stand out, or will they be like this good, but forgettable?) Worth watching- though odds are you'll forget you've ever seen it.

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)

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

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!

Idris Elba's Monty James is a hardworking, well-liked soul across town, known for his compassion to others and extreme dedication to his three daughters, who he is trying to provide with a better life since their mother (Tasha Smith) walked out. Yet it should come as no surprise that when she jumps back into the quiet family's life, everything takes a turn for the worse. She is now dating a deadbeat gangbanger and demands the custody of her children so they don't have to live with Monty, who is housing a dirty secret of his own.

Meanwhile, Monty becomes well-acquainted with Julia Rossmore (Gabrielle Union), a high-maintenance, somewhat demanding lawyer, who is taxied around by him as one of his two Joe-jobs. In order to keep his kids, he must arm himself with the best lawyer possible, and manages to get buddy-buddy with Maya so that he can have her defend him. All while simultaneously maintaining an honest relationship with the woman, and keeping a close eye on his girls, who are sent to live with their mother and her boyfriend after an incident at home.

Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls is by far the most accomplished flick I've seen by him, combining sentimentality and parental-commitment for a truly winning blend of a human story. In the three other Perry picture I've seen, he tends to often focus too much on petty conflicts, soap-opera characters, and thinly constructed drama that leaves nothing to be desired. He focuses on stereotypes and archetypes rather than recognizable humans. Here, however, he accomplishes almost everything he has neglected in his past films to make a watchable and thoroughly enjoyable drama.

Elba, who gets better and better with each performance, holds much of the weight of the film on his back and deserves much of the credit for its overall success. The film refrains from making him out to be a Godsend that should be treated with royalty, and also doesn't amplify the "tragic hero" ideas it conveys in the latter act. What we get is a character smart and competent enough to believe, but one that's also noticeably flawed and contemptible.

There's also a surprising freshness to the way Elba and Union carry out their relationship together in the film. It doesn't erect itself off of tired clichés and romantically uninteresting drivel, but rather illustrates a likable relationship between two people - hugely far off on the socioeconomic line - that do much more than meet-cute. Not to mention, if you were to take the romantic story out of the film, there would still be a wealth of events and situational drama to focus on. How many romantic comedies can you say that about? Daddy's Little Girls isn't urban cinema's finest, with other dramas like Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It and John Singleton's Baby Boy passing this one right by in terms of quality and story. Yet Perry pulls no punches and doesn't have any idiotic distractions in terms of characters, melodrama, or subplots. He's focused and gridlocked on Monty and his relationship with Julia and his three daughters, which is how the film should be. This is a simple story with emotions that are memorable and content that's surprisingly favorable and well-handled.

Starring: Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union. Directed by: Tyler Perry.