My Baby's Daddy has the same odor as that from a newborn's diaper: It stinks. The Eddie Griffen vehicle about three men and three babies is like a toddler struggling to take its first steps before falling and conking its head on the coffee table. OK, no more baby metaphors; I promise.
Griffen plays one of three new ghetto dads, each with his own set of problems but all trying to come to terms with what it means to be a responsible father. Griffen's baby's mama is a party girl who only wants her child for the extra welfare checks. Anthony Anderson is a wannabe boxer working for his Chinese girlfriend's father in the neighborhood market. And Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) is a struggling rap producer dating a recording studio executive.
The film, co-written and co-produced by Griffen, is amazingly flat throughout. Anytime a scene starts to get humorous or pick up some speed, it simply implodes. The answer doubtless lies in its director, Cheryl Dunye. This is essentially her first feature. Dunye's résumé largely consists of short films about being a black lesbian—which explains the mysterious change in sexual appetite of Imperioli's girlfriend and mother of his child, Joanna Bacalso.
The lack of good comedy forces you to turn your attention to the plot, and that's not a good thing. None of the characters are fleshed out, possible turning points are mentioned and then never developed, and not one of the three stories has a serious climax. For those readers who don't drop terms like "narrative arc" in casual conversation, let me put it this way: It's boring. None of the men ever seem like truly terrible fathers, and arguements can even be made that they are all doing what good dads should do, even before their supposed transformations into paternal Phil Donahues.
The only relief comes from Amy Sedaris (Strangers With Candy), and surprisingly, rapper Method Man, who shines in his performance as Griffen's cousin, No Good, an ex-con having problems adjusting to the outside.