Movie #1214 ........................."Daddy's Little Girls"

Movie #1214 "Daddy's Little Girls" is the second Tyler Perry film I have watched.  Yes, I was a big supporter of his excellent film "Precious,"  but I have never sat through an entire "Medea" film, for example.  Just looked too silly to me, and there are so many other films out there I'd rather see.  But I also know that he has been working on a ton of movies, such as this one, and I've been wanting to see one of his for  a while, so I did the other night when it was on t.v. on an indie station.  I tried this one in particular because of the actors who were starring in it:  Idris Elba and Gabrielle Union --- both really capable actors to get this story across about a dad trying to keep a hold of his three little girls while his ex wife is trying to get complete custody of them because he is too busy working to take care of them.  It sounds reasonable until you find out that she is tangled with gangs and drugs --- her boyfriend is a biggie drug dealer and the neighborhood doesn't even want her and him around.  A couple of scenes are manipulated in the story:  for example, the meet up of the lawyer and the daddy is a bit pushed when he has to get another job and becomes her driver.  While driving her , he overhears quite quickly that she is lonely and single ,  and because they have to go to the hospital one night instead of taking her home, she is able to change from being  witchy (with a b) to  being nicer when she learns what really was happening (his kids were in danger because they had been home alone and a fire had started).  Some parts are hokey (like some  courtroom scenes when the entire neighborhood stands up to condemn a bully in their neighborhood), but the film still works--- why?  we need films like these that show a black man's plight in so many ways living in a white world:  he is put in jail wrongly for a while and is still paying for that, he can't afford lawyers to help him out, he can't afford nannies who could help him out, he really cares being a father and is excellent at it (which would surprise those who misstereotype african american fathers, and those are just a few.  So I'm glad I sat down and gave this film a look and I intend to seek out others ----- might not be Medea, but I will try his others because if they are good like this one, I will find other real stories about real people acted well, with good storylines and valuable racial issues that we should be talking about and helping people to solve.  I give this 3.5 stars out of 5 and recommend it.

DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS

2007, PG 13      1 hour 40 minutes      I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

In this drama from Tyler Perry, a powerful attorney falls in love with a janitor who's the single father of three daughters. Trouble comes in the form of his ex-wife, who reappears on the scene threatening to take away his children.

Cast: Idris Elba, Gabrielle Union, Louis Gossett Jr.