RV (DVD)

Workaholic Bob Munro yearns for the days when his family was the centre of his life and he of theirs. But his wife's too busy to spend time with him, his daughter's a snotty teenager and his son's developing a bad attitude. So Bob thinks a family holiday will sort it all out. But at the last minute he's chosen to do a big presentation for his company across the country and has to put his trip to Hawaii on hold. But instead of telling his family, ...
...a road trip. Big mistake…

There was a time when director Barry Sonnenfeld could be relied upon to produce genuinely funny films to entertain the whole family; look at "The Addams Family" and "Men in Black". But the times they are a-changing and not for the better, I might add. I though "Men in Black 2" was bad enough, but it's nothing compared to this pile of toilet-humour infused dross. Not only does ... more

Workaholic Bob Munro yearns for the days when his family was the centre of his life and he of theirs. But his wife's too busy to spend time with him, his daughter's a snotty teenager and his son's developing a bad attitude. So Bob thinks a family holiday will sort it all out. But at the last minute he's chosen to do a big presentation for his company across the country and has to put his trip to Hawaii on hold. But instead of telling his family, he rents a mobile home and tells them they're taking a road trip. Big mistake…

There was a time when director Barry Sonnenfeld could be relied upon to produce genuinely funny films to entertain the whole family; look at "The Addams Family" and "Men in Black". But the times they are a-changing and not for the better, I might add. I though "Men in Black 2" was bad enough, but it's nothing compared to this pile of toilet-humour infused dross. Not only does Sonnenfeld rely on the lowest form of film humour (the sight gag) far too much but he also allows every single joke to drag on interminably. It's a case of sloppy editing - shaving off a second or two here and there would make all the difference. You would have thought with Robin Williams on board, he would have just wound him up and let him go, but no, he'd rather do pooh gags, slapstick and deeply unfunny running jokes. There's also a small matter of Williams stunt double being about twice his size. So you never really believe he's in danger and this pulls the rug out from under the ouch factor. You can see absolutely everything coming a mile off and the predictability undermines what few gags there are. It also makes the family bonding side of the film incredibly saccharine as daddy and the kids get closer. It's telling that Sonnenfeld hasn't even paid enough attention to the most basic of effects, making it abundantly clear that the cast are in a studio somewhere, in front of a green screen, when they should be bouncing through the wilderness somewhere. This is essentially a star vehicle for Williams, but one where the hand-brake is never let off. So you feel like you're bumping along in first gear throughout the entire hour and forty minutes. Then as the credits roll, you're "treated" to the ultimate horror; a cast sing-along of "Route 66".

The screenplay by Geoff Rodkey is straight out of the scripting-by-numbers book. So we start with the happy families' set-up before flashing forward a few years to show how it's all gone downhill. The characterisation is a series of Hollywood family movie stereotypes; the overworked father, the harried wife, the politically aware stroppy teen daughter and the wannabe rude boy son who's bullied at school. This doesn't make them at all sympathetic because you know their character development arcs before they do. Nor does their upper-middle-class background, which means they want for nothing and carry a sense of entitlement with them. So their attitude towards the Gornickes is one of bigoted scorn. The interaction between them is trite; with family squabbles giving way to a deep appreciation of each others strengths and all-round loveliness. However, everything has to be mediated by Bob so we don't really see them come together as a family. We don't see enough of the other family members for them to develop any real personalities, hence my total ambivalence towards them. And we all know the Gornicke family exist merely to make the Munros unite against a common enemy. They are traditional movie hicks; gingham-wearing, home-schooled, yodelling bumpkins, who in an entirely unsurprising twist turn out not be quite as stupid as they appear. There's absolutely no question that there will be a happy ending and that everybody will get what they deserve.

As soon as the mobile home is christened "The Giant Rolling Turd" by the Munro kids, you know the comic level has been set. It is reflected throughout all the dialogue and gags and you get the impression Williams is just prostituting himself to the highly unoriginal script. All he'd need would be a few ad-libbed one-liners and the quality would go up. But instead everyone sticks steadfastly to the cliché-riddled dialogue. The pacing is monotonous, with one family bonding moment for every two sight gags, making the watcher feel as if they're stuck in a hellish family comedy vicious circle.

Robin Williams essentially reprises his family-friendly schtick from Mrs Doubtfire as Bob Munro. He's well-meaning, but has become distanced from his family and will do anything to get his family life back on track. The problem is that Sonnenfeld keeps him reined-in, never allowing him to go off on real flights of improvised fancy. So he's quietly amusing, but never reaches the fever pitch that characterises his best performances. He doesn't spend enough time with his on-screen family so he never feels like a real dad. As a result his sly asides feel as though they're born of bitterness rather than frustration. I suppose he's hamstrung to a certain extent by the PG certificate, but I'd hoped for more from the fuzzy funnyman.

Cheryl Hines, who plays Williams' wife Jamie is the kind of toothy TV sitcom mother we see too much of. She's a modern woman juggling home and work, trying to raise her kids with strong values and keep her marriage alive. She's a total cliché and Hines doesn't do anything to flesh her out. She's so bland it's hard to remember anything about her once the credits have rolled. Pop tart Joanna 'JoJo" Levesque plays yet another snotty teen movie princess. She's okay at huffing around the set, sneering disdainfully at everything, but it's nothing dozens of other young actresses couldn't do. The same can be said of Josh Hutcherson as wannabe hard-man Carl. He's passable as a boy with attitude, but it's hardly a stretch.

Both Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth put more energy into the heads of the Gornicke family than the parts deserve. They are the kind of larger-than-life comedy characters that chafe your nerves as soon as they appear on screen. So it's easy to see why the Munro family would want to avoid them. But it doesn't give the actors much to do because the script portrays them as such paper-thin stereotypes. Daniels may be using the role to prove he can still do comedy, but in the absence of some solid character development and decent dialogue, he's fighting a losing battle. And poor Kristin Chenoweth is left with little to do other than jiggle her ample charms.

James Newton Howard's score is a weak accompaniment to an already lacklustre film, using bluesy harmonica and guitar motifs here, choral flourishes there and the odd dash of light jazz or country and western guitar. The addition of such tracks as "Stand by Your Man" and the aforementioned cast version of "Route 66" do nothing other than grate on one's nerves.

The stunt work throughout is impressive, if marred somewhat by the dissimilarity of Williams double to the actor. There are plenty of painful looking pratfalls, some big stunts feature the runaway mobile home and a fight with a raccoon, all performed with alacrity.

"RV" is yet another bargain bucket family comedy that is disappointingly mediocre. The performances are desperately average, the story and especially the jokes are incredibly predictable and the direction is well below par. Kids might enjoy the slapstick but if your age or IQ is into double figures, you'll be hard-pressed to enjoy it. 

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