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RV Our rating: Rate this movie   MPAA rating: PG (for crude humor, innuendo, and language) Genre: Comedy Theater release: April 28, 2006 by Columbia Pictures Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes Cast: Robin Williams (Bob Munro), Cheryl Hines (Jamie Munro), Joanna "JoJo" Levesque (Cassie Munro), Josh Hutcherson (Carl Munro), Jeff Daniels (Travis Gornicke), Kristin Chenoweth (Marie Jo Gornicke) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

Quickly, name the last funny movie you saw that starred Robin Williams. Some might argue for 2005's animated feature Robots, though just as many would call his performance predictable and annoying. The comedic roles before that are just as dubious. Patch Adams … Father's Day … Flubber … The Birdcage. Browse through his filmography for yourself, but many would agree that you have to go back to Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993 to find a true comedic hit from the popular actor, his dramatic work notwithstanding.

Hard to say where RV falls in that range, but it's neither his best comedic work, nor his worst. That should come as little surprise with this variation on the family road trip movie, epitomized by National Lampoon's Vacation with Chevy Chase. After all, the film was written by Geoff Rodkey, whose most recent credits include 2006's remake of The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen and 2003's Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy. And though director Barry Sonnenfeld has had his share of comedy classics (Men in Black, The Addams Family), he's also had his misfires (Wild Wild West).

Robin Williams and Cheryl Hines as the parents who take their kids on a family vacation

Williams plays Bob Munro, an overworked family man who plans to take his wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines from HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm) and two children on a summer vacation to Hawaii. But then his smarmy boss tells Bob that he's needed for an important presentation in Colorado that same week. And since 15-year-old Cassie (teen pop artist JoJo) and 12-year-old Carl (Josh Hutcherson from Kicking and Screaming) have other plans for the remainder of the summer, the vacation time can't be delayed.

So at the last minute, without consulting his family or explaining the truth to them, Bob decides to rent a recreational vehicle for a trip to his childhood getaway in Colorado—which happens to be near the location of his job presentation. Obviously it'll be a great bonding experience for the whole family, right? That is, until everything that can go wrong does go wrong, like seemingly most family vacations.

Williams does his Bug on a Windshield imitation

RV has the right idea, but the wrong setup. It's sweet that Bob wants to try and repair the close bond he once shared with his children, as seen in the film's opening. But he's completely delusional in thinking that his whiny and sarcastic family, eager to repeatedly vocalize their disgust whenever they can, will enjoy his plan as an alternative to Hawaii (with no explanation for the change), especially with the ugly behemoth he ends up packing them into. Of course, this just shows how out of touch he's become with his family as a result of his job.

Instead, it would have been more interesting if the film stayed on point by exploring the isolating effect of technology and self-interests on the American family. The Munros all have their own activities, listening to their own music through headphones, only speaking to each other only with irritated cynicism, and even text messaging when it's time for dinner. This is a real problem today, but unfortunately, RV takes the lazy way out by ultimately blaming the family's Simpsons-like dysfunction on Bob and his over-commitment to work. Meanwhile, the wife and kids become more loving and accommodating without really explaining why. Apparently, all you need to do is spend time together, and while there's definitely truth to that, we need to see that progression with all the characters, in fairness to the well-intentioned Bob.

Kristin Chenoweth and Jeff Daniels play a couple of 'Christian hicks' in the movie

But enough with family psychology and bad movie clichés. In spite of the predictable plot points, RV is indeed funny, if not unevenly so. The family vacation is a scenario rife with potential gags, and this film does offer some good ones. It also offers some cheap ones, many at the expense of rural folk like the Gornicke family, who come across as a redneck version of the Flanders family while essentially playing the same part as the Griswolds' cousins in Vacation.

The overall effect is kind of like someone who knows how to tell a good joke but doesn't have a funny punchline. For example, there's an extensive sequence involving Bob trying to figure out how to empty the septic tank at the RV park. His efforts, along with those of some well-intentioned yokels, inspire some chuckles as they fuss with the various hose attachments, but the inevitable poop shower is simply gross. More often than not, it's the small touches in the dialogue that make for good humor (clever pop culture references, relatable facial expressions, and Williams' penchant for impressions), not the painfully set-up physical gags themselves. It's still better than recent fare like Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Pink Panther remake.

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