''My Baby's Daddy'' is a 2004 American
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
,
directed
Direct may refer to:
Mathematics
* Directed set, in order theory
* Direct limit of (pre), sheaves
* Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces
Computing
* Direct access (disambiguation), a ...
by
Cheryl Dunye.
Plot
Childhood friends Lonnie, G, and Dominic have a rude awakening when they find out their girlfriends are pregnant. Lonnie and G have sons names Carver and Bruce-Leroy, and Dominic has a daughter named Jasmine.
Each have their own unique set of problems; Lonnie's girlfriend Rolonda is more interested in partying than being a mother; Dominic discovers that his girlfriend Nia is a
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
and has fallen in love with her
midwife
A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...
; while G, an aspiring boxer, is unable to fully commit to his girlfriend XiXi.
Throughout the movie, all three men, particularly G and Dominic, are determined to continue their normal way of living and be fathers at the same time. Lonnie is a garbage man among other part-time jobs, G works in the store Xixi's family runs, and Dominic is managing a pair of
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...
s.
After they momentarily lose their kids during a party they threw, they realize how much their kids depend on them, and gradually become responsible fathers. Lonnie falls in love with a woman from a Mommy and Me class named Brandy who he treats badly on date, due to believing she wouldn't like the real him. Nia feels Dominic is too involved in his career to ever be a father. G's cousin No Good robs a store to help him get the supplies for his son and Xixi feels he was in on it and takes Bruce-Leroy away from him.
After all three are given a talking to by Lonnie's Uncle Virgil, they realize how much they love their kids and what they have to do. Lonnie apologizes to Brandy, but he stays true to himself, and she forgives him, then he storms to Rolonda's house and takes Carver with him, while criticizing her for having a baby to get
child support
Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...
payments and knocks out her cousin "Big Swoll". Dominic goes to Nia and tells her how much he loves Jasmine and how he needs to be a part of her life. Xixi's father bonds with G by explaining his past in the Triads, but cleaned up his life to be a good father; so he can understand the trio's brotherhood. Inspired, G proposes to Xixi.
At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Lonnie and Brandy get married. Lonnie has also achieved his dream of becoming a successful inventor; Dominic started a children's music album; and G and his father-in-law open a martial arts/boxing studio called The Mo Fo Dojo. No Good, after learning of organic foods, goes on to become a successful food show personality called The Organic Gangster. They lastly toast to great babies' daddies. In the end, they realize that three little babies turned them into three grown men.
Cast
*
Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and television host. He is known for his leading roles in television shows such as Andre "Dre" Johnson on the comedy series ''Black-ish'' (2014–2022), Marlin Boulet on the ...
as "G", He tries to speak Chinese to impress Xixi's father, but he gets pronouns wrong.
*
Eddie Griffin as Lonnie
*
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...
as Dominic
*
Method Man
Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...
as Randall "No Good", G's ex con cousin.
*
Paula Jai Parker as Rolonda, Lonnie's gold-digging girlfriend.
*
Bai Ling as "XiXi"
*
Joanna Bacalso as Nia, She leaves Dominic for her midwife.
*
Amy Sedaris as Annabelle
*
Marsha Thomason
Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is an English actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi Dorrit on the ABC ...
as Brandy
*
Bobb'e J. Thompson as "Lil'
Tupac"
*
Tommy "Tiny" Lister as "Drive By"
*
John Amos as Uncle Virgil
* Bryan Ho as Dang Ling, XiXi's little brother
Production
Principal Photography took place from September 9 to November 4, 2002 in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
while exterior shots were filmed in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
.
Reception
This movie has a 6% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 52 reviews of which only three were fresh, with an average rating of 2.9/10. The site's consensus reads, "Full of poop jokes, broad racial stereotyping, and other tired gags, ''My Baby's Daddy'' makes the absolute least of a decent premise". On
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 23 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
References
External links
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{{Authority control
2004 films
2004 comedy films
American comedy films
Films scored by Richard Gibbs
Miramax films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films