My Baby's Daddy: Movie Review

March 13, 2006 - "My Baby's Daddy" is the story of three lifelong friends, Lonnie (Eddie Griffin ["Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo"]), G (Anthony Anderson ["Hustle & Flow"]), and Dominic (Michael Imperioli ["The Sopranos"]), who all find out they're going to be fathers at the same time. With this information in hand, they must give up their hard partying, womanizing, bachelor lifestyles and step up to the challenges of true love, commitment, and fatherhood.

Ah, "My Baby's Daddy", like the underachiever who has drive and intelligence, but no idea how to harness them, has all the elements to be a solid flick, but doesn't know how to use them. Now, I'll admit I had low expectations for this film coming in, but as I watched it, it's not that those expectations were proven wrong, but I did find the filmmakers' intentions, if not techniques, very admirable. Why I didn't want to like "My Baby's Daddy" going in is because I thought it'd be ignorant, juvenile, and stupid, and for the most part, it is, but it was trying to be more and I applaud it for that, and that is why I found myself wanting to like it the further I got into it. I mean, there are a lot of bad things you can say about "My Baby's Daddy", believe me. It's sloppily made, cheaply made, carelessly made, poorly made, and is definitely no "Made" (but it might be on par with "Maid to Order" and actually trump "Maid in Manhattan" [no large feat that], if you're keeping score). However, although, it's kind of a dog of a film, "My Baby's Daddy" contains many flashes of humor and at its heart, it has good intentions and a good message, so even though it's a dog, you could say it's a good dog, and to quote Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield in "Pulp Fiction", "A dog's got personality, and personality goes a long way." And that best sums up "My Baby's Daddy". It's a lovable dog.