What do you get when you cross a washed-up former music star who now DJs to disinterested crowds with the precocious daughter of a high-flying A-list couple?
Cutesy sitcom Turn Up Charlie (watch the trailer above) starring Idris Elba as the titular Charlie, whose actor best friend asks him to play manny to smart-mouthed Gabrielle (Frankie Hervey), a kid that goes through nannies faster than the Von Trapp children.
Feeling like a product of another time, and, except for its saucier elements, something more at home on kids’ TV than Netflix, Turn Up Charlie revolves around the predictable push-and-pull between frustrated-in-life Charlie and Gabrielle, who acts out as a way to get her preoccupied parents’ attention.
More interesting is Charlie’s home life, with a disapproving aunt and freeloading friend bringing what laughs there are. (On Netflix from Fri., Mar. 15) 3 stars
