Holy Cow ... Daddy Day Care is an empowering tribute to the importance of gender equality in child care. Seriously.

I attended a pre-screening (which alone was rather nice -- at-home dads don't usually get perks) and found the movie was cute, nice and generally respectful of the idea of dads as, well, dads. There was a scene in which mothers who turned up their noses at the idea of male (gasp) day-care guys were put in their place and there was plenty of the usual putting-your-children-first stuff that would be easy to deride as cliche if it didn't match my particular worldview.

Was there some assorted dad doofusness? Sure. But the movie concentrated more on exagerating the zanyness of the kids rather than the clueness of the fathers. And it was an Eddie Murphy movie, so even the end-of-the-rope dad lines played well. ("We need some more structure," Murphy says to co-star Jeff Garlin at one point. "No," quips Garlin. "We need Ritalin and leashes.")

At the end of the day, there are really only two Rebel Dad criteria to meet: one, was the film enjoyable (yes) and two, does it make it easier, rather than harder, for dads to accept the caregiving role? The answer to that last question, I think, is yes. Let's face it -- it seems like there have been zillions of movies made about women who give it all up for the happiness of being the at-home parent. We deserve one about guys who do the same thing. Even if that guy is Eddie Murphy.

(As an aside, there has been more Rebel Dad news in the last couple days, and I'll be sure to link out to those stories in the next day or two.)