| R.V. |
 2006 - USADirector: Barry Sonnenfeld
- Reviewed by Vickie
Guess what? It’s so not. No, no, folks, instead R.V. is the kind of painfully bad film that makes me sad for the state of movies. It’s a standard-issue, lowest-common-denominator type of movie that feels like it was written by committee…and not a very good one, at that. Shamelessly lifting one idea after another from far-better films before it, and then bludgeoning the audience with horrifically awful reimaginings of those ideas, R.V. is a lot like the motor home featured at its core: garish, obnoxious, lumbering and, as the bright-green vehicle is christened by the kids in the film, “a big rolling turd.” Robin Williams tries (unsuccessfully) to do his best Jim Carrey impersonation as family man Bob Munro, who doesn’t understand why he can’t seem to connect with the two most hateful and unlikable children to grace the screen in recent memory: snotty, disrespectful daughter Cassie (pop singer JoJo), and stereotypical, seen-it-before wannabe hip-hopper son Carl (Josh Hutcherson). Both are prime candidates for some kind of boot-camp program but, instead and for reasons that can only be described as potentially masochistic, Bob decides to combine a work commitment in Colorado with a “let’s come together as a family” road trip in a giant rolling turd. I mean, an RV. Meantime, wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines) smiles and nods and does her best “Oh, BOB!” faces over and over again as one mishap after another befalls them all. Adding to the hilarity (?) are Cousin Eddie and his weird family, who take a liking to the clearly horrified Griswolds. Oops, wrong movie. I mean, Travis Gornicke (Jeff Daniels) and his weird family, who take a liking to the clearly horrified Munros, and who were definitely not inspired by Cousin Eddie et al. AT all (she said sarcastically). They’re a kooky, quirky, aw-shucks clan, who travel America’s roadways in an admittedly cool red bus. Travis’s wife (Kristin Chenoweth) is like a Grand Ole Opry performer on crack, and the kids are nerdy home-schoolers. Yet, HI I’M SUBTLE IRONY, despite their oddities, this wacky bunch are tighterthanthis. Because this movie’s story is about as complex as a bag of hair, prepare to be underwhelmed as the Munros struggle valiantly to get to their destination, but find their journey hampered repeatedly by forces near and far. Then, thankfully, it’s over. Trying to decide what I loved most about this movie is oh so very difficult. Let’s see… was it the moment where Bob is buried beneath a torrent of raw sewage? Perhaps the drawn-out scene where he’s attacked my marauding raccoons…or the waaaay overlong sequence, clearly inserted to allow Williams to improvise, where Bob puts on his best street slang in a bid to impress a trio of teens? I’m actually cringing just remembering how ghastly each of those scenes were, and they’re the tip of the iceberg in a screenplay littered with groan-worthy jokes and dialogue that’s even worse. Aside from its lower than lowbrow humor, R.V.’s biggest problem is that it lacks both the heart and inherent chemistry of the Vacation films it’s trying so desperately to emulate. The Vacation films, the good ones anyway, were great because Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo had fantastic chemistry, and their ever-changing roster of kids only seemed annoyed with, or embarrassed by, their parents…but they were always, always loving. You’d never see Rusty or Audrey speaking to Clark the way the brats in this movie mouth off to Bob. And Ellen, even while playing straight man to Clark’s noble doofus, was a distinct, three-dimensional woman… unlike Hines’ hollow, two-dimensional Jamie. Heck, Jamie could have been removed from this film altogether and it wouldn’t have made any difference. So, (crap-ass humor + crap-ass characters + crap-ass chemistry) x (recycled story + lame, recycled gags) = no pie. The only reasons R.V. is being spared the no-pie rating are: Will Arnett, as Bob’s germophobic boss (one slice), and Daniels’ and Chenoweth’s cheery losers (one slice), all three of whom managed to make me laugh during a movie that just made me want to cry. And not for the right reasons. |
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Wow! R.V. is a five-star laugh riot in a sea of unfunny
also-rans! A sure-fire crowd pleaser that’s like a breath of fresh
cinematic air! A hilarious romp through the quagmire of dysfunctional
families and their shenanigan-filled vacations! It’s all of these
things and much, much more!
