Daddy Day Care

 
Cast & Credits
Charlie Hinton: Eddie Murphy
Phil: Jeff Garlin
Miss Harridan: Anjelica Huston
Marvin: Steve Zahn
Ben Hinton: Khamani Griffin
Kim Hinton: Regina King

Directed By Steve Carr.
Written By Geoff Rodkey.

Running Time: 93 Minutes.
Rated PG

BY C.W. NEVIUS /May 9, 2003

Charlie and his buddy Phil, are laid-off dads who lost their cushy jobs in the economic crunch. With their wives working, Phil and Charlie end up with the child care responsibilities. When they can't find jobs, they figure they can take care of 11 kids as easily as two, and open a day care center.

Charlie and Phil, a pair of advertising executives who are so into their careers that their families are way down on the list. When the duo fails to excite the public about the concept of vegetable cereal, they find themselves fired with no job prospects. Unemployment means an abrupt end to all that expensive day care for their children at the exclusive Chapman Academy, an institution ruled by the stern hand of Miss Gwyneth Harridan.

While looking for a job, Charlie is left with the task of looking after his 4-year-old son Ben while his wife Kim works. He comes up with what seems like a brilliant idea: If he and Phil can handle the care of two kids, why not branch out and supervise around 10? They figure it'll be a piece of cake.

And guess what? Things go perfectly. The kids are calm and well behaved, there are no potty problems, and nothing gets broken.

 

Right.

 

Actually, the guys find out that they know nothing about taking care of kids, the day care posse ransacks the house, and Charlie and Phil take a pounding from the pip-squeaks. The hapless dads are pretty amusing.

 

"What we need," Charlie says at one point, "is structure and planning."

 

"No," replies Phil, "Ritalin and leashes. That's what we need."

 

Eventually they get the hang of it and their bizarre venture manages to take off. They become so successful that they end up bringing in a third caretaker, Marvin, an overgrown kid himself who speaks kids' language, but who is such a space cadet that he read "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care" because he thought it was about "Star Trek." The group of men begins teaching the children how to read, play games, interact and have fun at the same time. Charlie and Phil use their newfound skills with kids to bond with their own children and slowly learn to appreciate the real joy that comes with fatherhood.

Their joy is threatened by Harridan and a showdown ensues between the daddies and the "baddest" mother of them all.

©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

ASSIGNMENT

For the most part, these topics are listed in the order in which they appear in the movie. A topic that reoccurs will be listed only once.

  1. How does advertising influencing product demand?

  2. Give one example of a trade-off from the film.

  3. What was the Opportunity cost for Charlie's wife, Kim, when she chose to stay home with her son, Ben? What was the Opportunity cost for Charlie when he chose to reopen Daddy Day Care at the end of the film?

  4. How do profits causes firms to enter into a market?  Why do losses cause them to leave?  Give at least one example from the film.

  5. What does it take for the men to enter the daycare business? What were the start-up costs initially shown for Daddy Day Care?

  6. When does the expensive, exclusive academy start to really feel the pinch from losing children to Daddy Daycare?

  7. How did Government regulation effect Daddy Day Care? Why does the city regulate daycare? Is there a market failure that needed to be addressed?  What is the cost imposed on the firm by government regulation? Is it substantial?

  8. What was the marginal cost of the 11th child for Daddy Day Care?  Why would a firm incur such a high marginal cost for one unit of output? Do you think Charlie and Phil would they have taken the 11th child if they had known the marginal cost?

  9. What is the marginal cost of children 13-15? Here Charlie and Phil have time to consider the marginal cost. What do they decide to do initially?  What do they decide to do after considering the matter? What influenced that decision?

  10. What is an example of Product Differentiation in the film? Miss Harridan claims she is not afraid of Daddy Daycare because they are not "in the same league." To what extent are the firms competitors? To what extent are they not competitors? Could the firms be competitors in the minds of some consumers but not in the minds of other consumers?

  11. How do firms learn about and meet consumer desires/demands?

  12. What are Non-pecuniary wages?  Give a specific example from the film.

  13. What is Price discrimination? What incentive does a business have to do this?  Give a specific example from the film.

  14. How does Charlie's definition of utility change during the course of the movie?  At what point in the movie do we see his definition of utility start to change?


Respond to these questions on the appropriate Blackboard Discussion Board no later than midnight, Sunday, October 28.