What you're promised is not always what you're given
1
By JoeCoolRunnings
Did I actually approve of this years back? Oh, yes I did. But I sure wish I hadn't. Even by the trailer, it can be assumed and deduced that this film, "Daddy's Little Girls", is as dull and dim as it gets, has gotten, and will get. Instead of giving an inside look into the James sisters (the McClain sisters), along with some others, we the audience get a very superficial glance at a romantic sleeper. Monty James (Idris Elba) is the single father who juggles his past, the management of his three daughters, and the [hidden] desire to catch up. Isn't there more to him than just that? He darned sure knows he was wronged in the past, he was not the wrongdoer. Why should he bow to the bozos who bring up the lie-infested past? Who should he lose his girls to, but his gargoyle ex-wife Jennifer (Tasha Smith) and drug dealer/neighborhood bully Joseph, "Joe" (Gary Sturgis)? Both are overgrown delinquents for no reason. Even someone as low as Joe has to be running from something. What is it? We don't know. And Jennifer? Well, she probably wanted so much more than what she had in the past. Or perhaps, she had been raised the wrong sort and was afraid that the opposite she wished for, when she finally got it, would not last. Anyhow, she turned to the wrong crowd, and she doesn't care--about anyone or anything. And if that's not enough, here comes snotty, brainless, dependent attorney Julia Rossmore (Gabrielle Union). Who does think she is, the Tang Dynasty Empress of China? She acts like life has to happen on her schedule, by her standards. Her two doting know-it-all friends (Tracee Ellis Ross, Terri J. Vaughn) are no better judges of character than Julia is of the criminal justice system. Even Monty's girls, character-wise, are no more than typical pre-teen smart alecs in a bad storm. Must I say a thing about the absence of energy, the zero percentage of genuine humor, the missing sense of relatability, or even the vacant rate of realism? And what did Willie (veteran Louis Gossett, Jr.) mean "the history of us as A people"? He should have said, "The history of us as PEOPLE, period". That way the point of the scene would not seem limited to just one crowd or population. What is his story anyway, other than having been in the neighborhood through "it all". Further than that, I am tired of the jive talk, the disrespecting of elders, and the trademark insecurity of Perry's women. I'm especially done with the use of romance as a crutch or a required course. The chemistry between Monty and Julia was lifeless and unbelievable to say the least. Poorly written. Poorly cast. Poorly directed. A preachy and obvious piece of [fill-in-the-blank] soundtrack. Another F, or rather another Z I'm afraid. Was there not one thing done right? Except for the pointing out of crime, drugs, and unfit parenting (which could have been projected/portrayed better), NO.
