Die Chaoscamper

I take my younger daughter to the movies every Friday night, along with another dad and his girl. The movies are chosen to be kid friendly. and so 'RV'was selected. This particular evening the other dad's girl friend was with us.

The adults were resigned to a glum two hours of tedium, but - surprise! Surprise!! - it turned out to be kinda fun. No one will confuse it with Citizen Kane, but it was lively, funny, and not at all boring. It is obviously a pay check movie for everyone involved - but they are all solid professionals and deliver the goods. I was particularly interested that Kristin Chenoweth, the Broadway star, was in the cast.

Sp we had a good time with this movie, which is really all you ever ask on Friday night. The entire case does an ensemble version of 'Route 66' over the closing credits, which is worth staying for.

The movie's advertising poster somehow made me think this film was going to be like the Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz classic, The Long, Long Trailer, a movie I had long loved. As it turns out, this film really wasn't like that one, but I enjoyed it anyway. While it was loaded with sometimes predictable slapstick comedy and was kind of heavy on potty situation jokes (but definitely not entirely, there was adult humor, too), there were some lines in there that were really great, particularly the ones uttered by Joanna Levesque (whose delivery was such that I found myself laughing again over some of her lines when I thought about them later), who played the daughter, and who was beautiful, by the way. Cheryl Hines as the wife had some great lines, too, and I enjoyed her quirky beauty and great personality. Josh Hutcherson, whom I first saw and enjoyed in Zathura, playing the son in this movie, is revealing himself to be quite a good actor, and I see that he has been cast in the upcoming film based on the award-winning children's novel, Bridge to Terabithia, which is likely to be a plum role for him.

Robin Williams in his films can sometimes be irritating, but he can also be extremely funny, particularly in the way he uses his voice, and in this film, I didn't think he was ever irritating, and I particularly liked his "hip hop" or "homeboy" routine in this film.

I mostly enjoyed this movie for the pleasure of being with the people in it, including all members of the Gornicke family, whose generosity of spirit I appreciated, and I thought they had a real cool bus. The truth is that a road trip in an RV like this can be lots of fun for a family, and exploring what America has to offer is a great thing to do. In this film, the stunning "Colorado" scenery (really Canada) was quite appealing and made me want to go to the Rockies this summer.

The movie had a great soundtrack and I also noticed some clever sound effects that made the comedy situations even funnier.

All in all, this movie has a great heart and is a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it a lot, as did the audience in the theater when I saw it.

I was in the mood for something stupid and silly. RV filled the bill, mostly because of Cheryl Hinds and the Goernike family (headed by Kristen Chenowith and Jeff Daniels). The dumb singing alone moved things along well enough. Robin Williams never believed his own character which is hard-to-take from a film's lead. And his boss, the film's ostensible villain, was a zero.

On the plus side are the film's pacing, the Goernike's, Cheryl Hinds, and three strokes of brilliance by Williams amongst a lot of glib throwaways. To its credit, RV never bogs down by taking itself too seriously or by trying to convince the audience it has an actual plot beyond its absurd trappings. Director Sonnenfeld has an amusing cameo as Irv.

My wife dragged me to this movie and I was planning on completely hating it from the start... but, a funny thing happened on the way to the end of this movie. I actually didn't hate it!! Now, it's nothing special and I would suggest waiting until it's released on DVD, but I did giggle throughout the silly pratfalls and goofiness.

Kristen Chenowith played an over the top redneck wife that came with big hair, ample bosom and too much makeup to boot! Jeff Daniels, always completely likable, didn't back down from his "Big Texan" character with hat, boots and thick bushy mustache. They stole the movie, and made it somewhat fun in the process.

Don't go see this movie if you're wanting side splitting laughter, but for an hour and a half of silly fun, it's a nice distraction!

AGAIN, JUST WAIT FOR IT TO COME OUT ON DVD!!! You'll be happy that you did!

The trailer does this film no justice. My family wanted to see it and I must admit it looked pretty stupid from the commercials. I've always liked Robin Williams though and went along for the ride. It turned out to be a vacation trip full of laughs.

The entire theater was howling throughout the movie. Williams was at his quick witted best and the entire cast just seemed to fit the film. Granted, this is a "roll with the comedy" kind of film. There may be a little bit too much "potty" humor, but it isn't anything raunchy like Wedding Crashers or other films aimed at teens. This is good for the entire family and will have them all laughing.

Some of the plot and a few of the jokes are telegraphed from a mile away but the strength of the performances and a troop of likable characters transform it from a film you merely wouldn't regret watching to one you'll actually enjoy."