What Do The Critics Say?

"Poison ivy jokes. Poop jokes. Runaway bus jokes. Young love jokes. Skunk jokes. Some fake fatherly tender moments. Vomit jokes. This film has them all." Tom Long DETROIT NEWS "An extended sitcom for kids, with very little to entertain adults." Jette Kernion CINEMATICAL "If you like your outhouse humor explosive then this 'Camp's for you!" David N. Butterworth REC ARTS MOVIE REVIEWS "Other than being silly most of the time and stupid on occasion, there is nothing offensive about Daddy Day Camp." Bruce Kirkland JAM! MOVIES "As one might anticipate with a comedy about children and the outdoors, a lot of screen time is devoted to bodily noises and throwing up." Jan Stuart NEWSDAY

"The kids are cute enough as they are put through their strides but it is all too predictable as they find themselves confronted by smarmy competing camp owner Lance Warner (Lochlyn Munro) who is a bit like a boo-hiss villain." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "This kinder and gentler sequel features the main characters from Daddy Day Care but with a different cast." M K Terrell CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR "The film exercises some restraint (by today's low standards, anyway) in its deployment of poop and fart jokes. I counted only two crotch wallops (the new pratfall) and just a single incident of projectile vomiting." Gianni Truzzi SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER "It's a bit sad to see this talented, Oscar-winning actor reduced to taking Murphy's cast-off parts, but Gooding does fine with what the movie gives him." Will Crain SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLES

The Inside Story "Daddy Day Camp" picks up where the highly successful Daddy Day Care left off. Producer Jason Shuman ("Darkness Falls" & "The Messengers") had been with the film since its development and helped to bring Fred Savage to the project to direct. Savage, a new dad himself, had been spending the past several years directing a lot of kids’ comedy. He read the script and jumped at the chance. Savage ("The Boy Who Could Fly" & "Austin Powers in Goldmember") explains, "I was in the right mindset for this film since I’ve been entrenched in the young comedy world lately." Savage, who has enjoyed numerous years both in front of the camera as an actor, and behind it as a director, has had the opportunity to direct for such networks as Nickelodeon, Disney and the Disney Channel, among others; names strongly identified with family entertainment. "I enjoy working on kids’ projects," he adds. "There is always going to be a market for quality family movies, and not just the animated ones, but the live action films where you can relate to actual people who kind of look and act like you." But what Savage really responded to was the core message of the story. "At the center of the script is really a story about a father-son relationship: both with Ben, who is Charlie’s son, and with Buck, who is Charlie’s father," explains the director. "There is a lot of fun and high jinx, but it’s really about fathers trying to bridge the gap with their sons. Cuba’s character is trying to connect with his son; that’s why he started this whole camp thing to begin with. He brings Buck in to try to connect with the kids and through that, he reconnects with his own father." Cuba Gooding Jr was attached to the role before Fred Savage came on as director. He recalls "The studio came to me with a list of directors, and I know that the first name on the list is always the one they are most interested in." As a young actor, Fred Savage knew what he responded to in a director and without knowing it, had been absorbing directorial technique since he started acting. "I know how I liked being talked to and getting notes and having things explained to me," Savage recalled. "As a young actor, I worked with a variety of directors who had a variety of styles and so I think over the years, I learned what I liked and now I apply it to the kids I work with. I really prefer directing right now. I love the collaborative nature of it. I love constantly sharing ideas with other people. Exchanging and building on ideas is what makes this process so exciting." "Cuba Gooding Jr comes to set and just raises the level of every scene he is in," says Savage. "To have someone on set doing incredible comedic work, incredible physical work and incredible dramatic work brings such a great vibe to the entire set. He is so patient with the other actors, especially with the kids who didn’t always get it right off the bat. He would work with them. He would run lines with them. He was such a pleasure." Choosing Gooding’s sidekick would prove to be a great challenge, until the filmmakers met Paul Rae. "Paul is an undiscovered gem," says Shuman. "He has the lovability you want in a sidekick character and that quality was our goal in casting." "My character, Phil, is a big, loveable bear of a guy who doesn’t like confrontation," Paul explained. "He likes his food and his rest and he cares a lot about the kids and Charlie. He’s one of those guys you want to be your best friend because he’s the guy that will lie around and eat hot dogs and watch the game with you, but if something were to go down, he’d have your back 100 percent." And what was it that made him choose this film? "I chose this movie because I liked the relationship between Phil and Charlie," he says. "They’re just big kids who have been friends since they were young. Plus, I get to dress up like a woman. What could be more fun than that?" Casting the all-important role of Colonel Buck would be essential to the film. Richard Gant was suggested by Cuba, who had just worked with him on the movie "Norbit". "As soon as Cuba came on board, he called me and said that we had to hire Richard Gant," recalls producer Jason Shuman. "I knew who he was all the way back from "Rocky V" and as soon as Cuba suggested him, I knew he was our Colonel Buck." "We had done "Norbit" together," Gooding explained. "I read the script and had always pictured him in the part as my father because of the energy and the dynamic that he brings to roles. With comedy, you really have to find that actor whose timing clicks, and with drama you have to find that pace to get the emotional effect, and Richard Gant does both. It’s nice to have a guy who has one leg in theatre and the other in comedy. To have that marriage come together in that role is just wonderful." "He brings a dignity and class to the character that just works," says Savage. "Off-screen, he stayed in character as a drill instructor and he had a lot of fun with the kids off the set. He had the kids saluting him and marching and doing about-faces and they really listened to him!" The opportunity to share the screen with Cuba once again was a major influence in Gant’s decision to join the cast. "Cuba is a very giving actor," says Gant. "He’s always right there for you and if you don’t watch out, you’ll find yourself watching him rather than being in the scene." The next role to be set would be the antagonist, Lance Warner. "I’m basically there to butt heads with Cuba," says Lochlyn Munro. "My camp is filled with all the toys and all the materialistic things. My character doesn’t even like kids but I make money doing it, so I do it. Bossing kids around would be his joy. I’d like to say he’s misunderstood, but he’s not. He’s just a jerk!" "Lochlyn Munro plays the perfect villain," says Shuman. "He has done it before, but I don’t think he’s done it quite like this!" "He brings intelligence to a real doofus of a character," Savage adds. "He makes Lance Warner seem a little smarter than he is which makes him even dumber." Joshua McLerran would take on the role of Dale, the head counselor at Camp Driftwood. "Dale is a good guy. He’s happy," says McLerran. "He’s trying the best he can, but he really doesn’t know what he’s doing either. He’s kind of a slacker." Next task was to cast the kids roles. "You never know what to expect when you’re working with that many kids, says Shuman. "I would do things to keep them calm, like try to keep them away from the sugar. But that didn’t work because the craft service table was right in the middle of everything and was right at their height! So they would sneak stuff when we weren’t looking. That’s what’s great about them. They’re pretty uninhibited and they come to us sort of raw, with no real methods of doing things, they just are who they are with all of their little personalities." "I learned the joy of naiveté," says Gant. "We often lose this quality as we get older, and being around the energy and naiveté of these kids was so refreshing for me." Gooding agrees. "I enjoyed seeing emerging talent in some of the kids. Like Spencir Bridges who plays my son. When I first saw Spencir’s screen test, I knew that kid had something special and it’s been such a pleasure to work with him." When asked what their favorite part of working on this movie was, the kids had some interesting things to say. "There’s one scene where you got to eat candy. liked that the best." (Spencir Bridges) "I’m the bully in this movie. It kind of fits my personality so it was easy for me." (Tyger Rawlings) "I got to puke on Cuba’s feet. That was the fun part." (Talon Ackerman) "I got to be in the clique of popular kids who know it all and are too cool for everybody and so it was really fun to play because it just was." (Katie Fisher) "We got to learn jokes. My favorite is - What’d you have for breakfast? Pea Green Soup! What’d you have for lunch? Pea Green Soup! What’d you have for dinner? Pea Green Soup! What’d you do all night? Pea Green Soup!" (Sean Patrick Flaherty) "I realized that I want to be either a movie star or a soccer player." (Zachary Allen) "I liked acting. I would like to act in the future. But I don’t know if I want to be famous or anything. I want to be known, but maybe not a total movie star or whatever." (Telise Galanis) "Fred and Cuba are my new favorite actors." (Taggart Hurtubise). "Someone told me Adam Sandler was directing this." (Dallin Boyce) "I knew Fred Savage from "Goldmember". He had the mole on his face. And he walked into the audition room and I was like 'that’s the mole guy' and my mom was like 'that’s Fred Savage.' He was cool." (Tad D’Agostino) "Daddy Day Camp" was filmed on location in Utah in twenty five days, mostly outside. Aside from the cold, the location proved perfect. "I felt bad for the kids sometimes," Shuman says. "It was forty degrees at night and we would say 'okay, take your jackets off now kids, it’s time to pretend its ninety degrees and summer!' But they were real troopers." Synopsis

Charlie Hinton and Phil Ryerson are in over their heads. Summer is coming and after running their very successful Daddy Day Care, they find their losing half the group to graduation and the rest to the local day camps. Their own kids want to go to camp too, but Charlie and Phil have other plans for them. Since both men had some pretty traumatic experiences of their own as childhood campers, they are hoping to spare their sons the pain they went through and spend the summer doing father-son stuff. If their sons are going to go to camp, they can at least attend their dads’ alma mater, 'Camp Driftwood'. When they arrive, they find a beaten and run down Uncle Morty inside a beaten and run down camp. Uncle Morty, who has owned the place since the men were boys, has run 'Camp Driftwood' into the ground and given up on any kind of revival thanks to the exclusive Camp Canola just across the lake which is run by Charlie’s arch nemesis, Lance Warner. When Charlie learns that 'Camp Driftwood' is about to be foreclosed upon, he decides to buy the camp and restore it to its original charm and beauty, and hopefully beat his rival once and for all.

The Verdict "Strictly for the younger viewers, "Daddy Day Camp" will best suit viewers aged nine and under. The sort of film which brings out the best in selfless parents who will see this 'for their kids sake'! Despite the efforts of Cuba Gooing Jr (a talented actor who seems locked into accepting crap roles), Richard Grant (great fun as Colonel Buck) and Paul Rae (a poor man's John Goodman), the film falls far short of its predecessor "Daddy Day Care" and is no-where in the league of "Cheaper By The Dozen 2". Best moments in the film are reserved for those moments involving Richard Grant and the kids. There's a few adult laughs in "Daddy Day Camp" but the main focus of the film is definately aimed at kids. Do it for the little ones! 2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "DADDY DAY CAMP" stars .......
Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr ["Pearl Harbor", "Snow Dogs", "The Fighting Temptations", "Norbit " and "American Gangster"]; Lochlyn Munro ["White Chicks", "The Benchwarmers", "Little Man" and "Deck The Halls"]; Tamala Jones ["How to Make an American Quilt", "Blue Streak", "Next Friday" and "What Love Is"]; Paul Rae ["Coach Carter", "Zodiac Killer" and "Next"]; Frank Gerrish ["Baptists at Our Barbecue", "Mobsters and Mormons" and "Daniel and the Lions"] and Richard Gant [TV'S "Diagnosis Murder", "NYPD Blue" and "Special Unit 2"] as Col Buck Hinton. Who's Who?

Cuba Gooding Jr Lochlyn Munro Richard Gant Tamala Jones Paul Rae Josh McLerran Spencir Bridges Brian Doyle-Murray Dallin Boyce Telise Galanis Taggart Hurtubise Molly Jepson Tad D'Agostino Tyger Rawlings Talon G. Ackerman Zachary Allen Sean Patrick Flaherty Richard J. Clifford Frank Gerrish Paul Kiernan JJ Neward Christy Summerhays

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Charlie Hinton Lance Warner Col Buck Hinton Kim Hinton Phil Ryerson Dale Ben Hinton Uncle Morty Max Ryerson Juliette Carl Becca Robert Billy West Jack Mullethead Bobby J Thumson Plumber Bill Syl Margo

Directed by Fred Savage Written by Geoff Rodkey/J David Stem/David N Weiss Story by Geoff Rodkey/Joel Cohen/Alec Sokolow Characters created by Geoff Rodkey Produced by John Davis/William Sherak/Jason Shuman Original Music by James Dooley Cinematography by Geno Salvatori Film Editing by Michel Aller Casting by Lindsey Hayes Kroeger/Judi McKee/David Rapaport Production Design by Eric Weiler Art Direction by Mark J Mullins Set Decoration by Mark J Mullins Costume Design by Carolyn Leone-Smith Run Time 95 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2007 - Sony Pictures - All Rights Reserved ©2007 All Rights Reserved - Protected by Australian & International Copyright. Trademark Laws Apply.