How can I say this delicately? I probably would have enjoyed watching paint dry on the wall, more than I enjoyed watching Tyler Perry’s new film, “Daddy’s Little Girls.” In this film Perry wisely stays behind the lenses, credited as writer and director.

   This film lies on the level of a made-for-television movie that has predictability written all over it. Monty (Idris Elba) fights for custody of his children after their maternal grandmother dies from lung cancer. Jennifer (Tasha Smith) the children’s mother, who’s currently living with the neighborhood drug dealer Joe, has zero interest in being the caretaker of her children; she’s simply out to hurt Monty.

   Monty takes up a second job as a driver to help take care of his daughters and meets the coldhearted, highly successful attorney Julia (Gabrielle Union). After a rocky encounter, she decides to take his case. While working together the two become fond of one another. A blind man could have seen this coming through a brick wall.

   Having obtained an Ivy League education, her friends feel dating Monty is beneath her. How could someone of her stature stoop so low as to date the help? That’s preposterous! Ushering in the class conflict ... yawn.  

   I personally found so many things wrong with this movie. We are first introduced to Jennifer at the end of her mother’s funeral, where she’s upset because no one informed her of her mother’s death. Who does Perry think he’s fooling? This film is clearly marketed to an urban audience which mostly consists of black people, and anyone of black descent knows that when someone in the neighborhood dies, that’s the hot topic of discussion for the next week ... I'm not buying it.

   And what makes it worse is that through the entire scene, I thought Smith would break character and burst into laughter.

   For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why Julia’s friends didn’t want her dating Monty. After all, these are the same friends that set her up on a blind date with a man, who at the age of 40, decides to become a rapper. He’s loud, obnoxious and mispronounces everything on the menu; yet somehow he’s better suited for their friend than a man who works hard to take care of his children.

   What really bothered me was Monty’s big secret. While he and Julia are briefing his case, she asks him if he has anything in his past that she should know about, and of course in melodramatic fashion, before he is able to respond, he gets interrupted by the ringing of a telephone and never tells her. Is it really impossible to tell her after she gets off of the phone?

   During the court proceedings, Monty’s secret is revealed, and of course Julia flips her wig without giving Monty a chance to explain ... completely humdrum. It is later discovered that Monty was framed, and of course, Julia comes back groveling and saves the day. What kind of lawyer is she? She can’t do a simple background check

    Perry hits the viewer over the head with the notion that Monty is a great guy, but Monty is all too happy to have sex with clearly drunken Julia. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that have been rape?

   Perry treats the viewers as if they have the thinking capacity of a toddler. He force feeds the idea that if you believe in God everything will work out. I noticed the religious undertones within the first five minutes of the movie - no need to shove it down my throat as if I'm incompetent.

   I applaud Perry for giving black cinema a face, but with films like this, I think I’ll use my admission money to supply my car with gas.