There is one simple rule that is almost ALWAYS true in Hollywood — a rule dictated by the basic principles of economics in our capitalistic society. No matter how bad a film is rated by critics, if it does well with moviegoers, there invariably will be a sequel — if not two or more.



Such is the case with “Daddy Day Care,” the 2003 family comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin — a movie that opened with a rousing $27 million at the box office and went on to tally more than $104 million in U.S. theaters during its initial run.



The film was about two fathers (Murphy and Garlin) who lose their jobs, are forced to pull their sons out of an exclusive private school and — with no job prospects on the horizon end up launching their own day care center. It also was a motion picture that film critic Roger Ebert’s one-star review called “a woeful miscalculation, a film so wrong-headed audiences will be more appalled than amused.” That’s an analysis with which I heartily agreed.



This time out, the cast of characters has new players, with Cuba Gooding Jr. stepping into the Murphy role of Charlie Hinton, and Garlin replaced by Paul Rae as his bumbling sidekick, Phil. As indicated by the title, the setting now moves to a ramshackle day camp — a rundown facility where Charlie was a former camper and a place he recalls with pride and fondness. Today Camp Driftwood is a virtual ghost town, about to be abandoned by its longtime director, Uncle Morty (Brian Doyle-Murray), who has been forced to the brink of bankruptcy by a neighboring super-camp known as Camp Canola. That camp, of course, is run by Lance Warner (Lochlyn Munro), a guy who reveled in humiliating Charlie at the two camps’ big “Olympiad” way back in 1977.



You can see where all this is going, can’t you? The poor little down-on-its-luck camp — filled with less-than-talented campers — ultimately goes up against those slick kids from the camp that has all the advantages. Any wonder how things will work out? Not to give anything away, but from the earliest scenes in this mess of a movie, we know we’re about to be treated to a contemporary update of “David and Goliath.”



Except for some pre-teen children (who are amused by jokes built on lame attempts at simplistic physical comedy or flatulence), I can’t really envision audiences being entertained very much by “Daddy Day Camp.” The acting is atrocious and more obvious than many high school or college productions. The jokes are stale. The storyline is so predictable I’ll bet nearly everyone in the theater will guess what happens next before the previous scene is half-over.



Yet again, Oscar winner Gooding has made a film choice that demeans his obvious acting ability, a talent he has wasted on such projects as “Norbit,” “What Love Is,” “Boat Trip,” “Snow Dogs” and now “Daddy Day Camp.” Former child star Fred Savage makes his feature film directing debut with this film — clearly because of his comfort level working in “feel-good” projects with young actors. It’s a shame he decided to jump into the big screen world with this misguided little project. Let’s hope he makes better choices in the future.

Daddy Day Camp 

★1/2

Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Lochlyn Munro, Richard Gant, Tamala Jones, and Brian Doyle-Murray



Director: Fred Savage.



Rated: PG for mild bodily humor and  language.