Daddy's Little Girls

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Daddy's Little Girls
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tyler Perry
Written by	Tyler Perry
Produced by	Tyler Perry Reuben Cannon
Starring	Idris Elba Gabrielle Union Louis Gossett Jr. Tracee Ellis Ross
Cinematography	Toyomichi Kurita
Edited by	Maysie Hoy
Music by	Brian McKnight
Production companies	Tyler Perry Studios Reuben Cannon Productions
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date	February 14, 2007 (2007-02-14)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$10 million
Box office	$31.6 million

Daddy's Little Girls is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry and produced by Perry and Reuben Cannon. The film stars Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Louis Gossett Jr., and Tracee Ellis Ross. It tells the story of a mechanic who enlists an attorney to help hin in a custody battle against his drug-dealing ex-wife for the fate of his three daughters. The film was released on February 14, 2007 by Lions Gate Entertainment. This is one of only four films directed by Perry that he does not appear in (the other three being Acrimony, For Colored Girls and Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor) as well as the first of Perry's films to not be based on any of the filmmaker's stage plays.

Plot[]

Monty James (Idris Elba) is a mechanic who dreams of owning his own shop. He has three daughters: Sierra (Sierra McClain), Lauryn (Lauryn McClain), and China (China Anne McClain). The children have been cared for by their elderly maternal grandmother Kat (Juanita Jennings) with frequent visits from Monty along with financial support. Before her death from lung cancer, Kat asks Monty to take custody of his daughters, since her daughter/Monty's ex-wife Jennifer (Tasha Smith) is both mean-spirited and self-serving. Jennifer has little to no interest in her daughters, having not visited them in several months prior to her mother’s death. She is preferably more involved in the business activity of her live-in boyfriend Joe (Gary Anthony Sturgis) the main drug dealer in the neighborhood.

During Kat's funeral, Jennifer disrupts the cemetery service, upset that no one notified her of her mother’s death. Jennifer tries to physically take the girls from Monty demanding that they leave with her and Joe, but her aunt Rita (Cassi Davis) steps in and stops her. She leaves, but informs Monty that she intends to seek full custody of the girls.

In an effort to earn extra money, Monty accepts a job as a driver for Julia Rossmore (Gabrielle Union), an attorney, at the recommendation of his next-door neighbor Maya (Malinda Williams) who works as her assistant. When Monty and Julia meet, she insists they refrain from fraternizing and keeps a strict schedule. Monty has to work later than expected one night after Julia’s friends, Brenda (Terri J. Vaughn) and Cynthia (Tracee Ellis Ross), set Julia up on a blind date with Byron (Craig Robinson) who turns out to be an unemployed aspiring rapper. While driving Julia home, Monty receives a call that his children were involved in a house fire. Without explanation to Julia, Monty immediately heads to the hospital against the protest of an uninformed Julia who fires him.

When Monty arrives at the hospital it is revealed that Sierra accidentally started a fire and that the girls were home alone with no adult supervision. Julia follows Monty into the hospital to demand she be driven home in time to hear the Social Services representative who was notified by the hospital, make the decision based on the circumstances, to grant immediate temporary custody to their mother, setting a date for a custody hearing. Monty drives Julia home and they part ways. Julia hires a replacement driver and Monty returns to work as a mechanic. Meanwhile, the girls face constant abuse and neglect from Joe and Jennifer.

Monty is called to Sierra’s school after she is caught with drugs according to the principal (Bennet Guillory). Sierra explains to Monty that Joe and Jennifer are forcing her to sell drugs under the threat of hurting Monty if she refused. Jennifer and Joe arrive and are enraged that the school contacted Monty. Joe threatens Monty during a brief altercation in the principal's office. Aware that Joe can afford a high-power attorney for the custody hearing, Monty goes to Julia for help. Julia knows that he cannot afford to hire the firm and turns him away, interpreting his actions as an attempt to use her to get custody of the girls solely so he can use them to get government assistance. Insulted, Monty leaves after telling Julia to get a life and a man.

Julia goes on another blind date with an attorney who she thinks is perfect for her until his wife and kids expose him. On the day of Monty’s custody hearing, Julia is leaving a different courtroom and overhears Monty’s failing attempt to represent himself. After listening to Monty try to inform the judge that the girls are living with a drug dealer, she steps in as his attorney and is able to get the hearing delayed. Julia agrees to represent him provided that case preparation occurs after office hours. Later, while preparing for the hearing, Julia asks Monty if there is anything bad she should know about him so that she is not surprised in court. They are interrupted by a phone call and the question goes unanswered.

Upon discovering it's her birthday and that Julia has no plans, Monty takes her to the jazz club in his neighborhood where they drink with his friends and dance. Julia kisses Monty and asks him to spend the night. Monty obliges, but a drunken Julia vomiting in the bathroom changes her mind and tells him to go home.

Over the next few weeks, they begin to have strong romantic feelings for each other. Monty invites her to meet his daughters at his apartment during his visitation. She continues to spend time with Monty and his girls and they take a trip to the aquarium. Julia runs into Brenda, who met Monty previously when he was Julia’s driver and figures out that they are now a couple. Brenda pulls Julia to the side and berates Monty, stating that he is beneath her status. Monty overhears Julia’s friend and is hurt. Julia later opens up to Monty and tearfully tells him about her last relationship that ended in betrayal. Monty promises that he won’t betray her and they continue dating.

At the child custody hearing, Julia argues that it would be in the children's best interest for Monty to be awarded custody and provided the court with a written statement from Jennifer’s deceased mother stating the same. Jennifer's lawyer fights back and claims that Monty is not suitable to raise the girls due to a conviction of statutory rape that occurred 16 years prior. Julia is disgusted and feels betrayed, as Monty never told her this information. She refuses to provide him further assistance with his case and leaves.

Monty goes to work and finds Willie (Louis Gossett Jr.), the owner and close friend, has been injured in a robbery. Willie is ready to retire and offers to sell the shop to Monty for a $10,000 deposit that can be paid on a payment schedule. Monty accepts his offer.

At 3:00 am, Monty's daughters arrive at his house and inform him that Joe has been hitting them, proving it by revealing that China's back is bruised while Jennifer just watched and did nothing about it. While his daughters are asleep, a livid Monty drives away and crashes into Jennifer and Joe's car, after which he begins to brutally beating up Joe in retaliation for his daughters. A crowd gathers; Joe's thugs arrive and begin to attack Monty. Having had enough of Joe's terrorism, the crowd defends Monty against them. Julia sees a report on the incident, learning Monty was wrongfully convicted of the rape charges. Upon hearing this, Julia rushes to help Monty.

Jennifer and Joe face drug charges in court as crack cocaine and marijuana were found in Joe's car and house. Monty is to be charged with assault. Julia walks in to represent Monty, apologizing for not hearing his side of the story. The witnesses testify against Joe, but refuse to testify against Monty. Jennifer, Joe, and all of Joe's thugs are arrested without bail while the case against Monty is dropped.

Monty tells Julia that he loves her. Monty's daughters greet him and Julia at the auto shop that now bears his name. Monty and Julia kiss and the neighbors celebrate Monty's success.

Cast[]

Reception[]

Box office[]

The film opened at #5 on Valentine's Day 2007 behind Ghost Rider, Bridge to Terabithia, Norbit's second weekend, and Music and Lyrics,^[1] and has grossed $31,609,243 worldwide, making it Tyler Perry's lowest-grossing film.

Critical reaction[]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 26% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Daddy's Little Girls boasts fine performances and a poignant message, but is ultimately let down by amateurish filmmaking."^[2] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[3] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Soundtrack[]

Atlantic Records released Music inspired by the film: Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, in stores and online on January 16, 2007. Among the highlights of the album is "Family First," the first-ever recording by the Houston Family -- Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick, and Cissy Houston. The song "Can't Let You Go" by Anthony Hamilton is not on the soundtrack. Also, the song "Beautiful" by Meshell Ndegeocello is featured in the movie.

1. Anthony Hamilton featuring Jaheim and Musiq Soulchild - "Struggle No More (The Main Event)"
2. R. Kelly - "Don't Let Go"
3. Tamika Scott of "Xscape" - "Greatest Gift"
4. Adrian Hood - "Brown Eyed Blues"
5. Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick and The Family - "Family First"
6. Yolanda Adams - "Step Aside"
7. Brian McKnight - "I Believe"
8. Beyoncé - "Daddy"
9. Anthony Hamilton - "Struggle No More"
10. Governor - "Blood, Sweat & Tears"
11. Charles "Gator" Moore - "A Change Is Gonna Come"

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Daddy's Little Girls at IMDb
• Daddy's Little Girls at Box Office Mojo
• Daddy's Little Girls at Rotten Tomatoes