Charity's Place.com

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: crude humor, language

Rated:

Have you ever had a raccoon in your camper? Have your parents ever forced you to go on a vacation you didn't want to take? If so, you will have some empathy for the battered family that hits the road in RV. Though plagued with (admittedly funny) crude humor and your typical plot twists, there's actually a good heart behind this less-than-normal family outing.

In former years, Bob Munro (Robin Williams) was the hero of his family. His daughter adored him and wanted to never grow up, because she was perfectly content being daddy's little girl. Ten years up the road, all that has changed. Cassie (Joanna Levesque) thinks dear old dad is the biggest dupe she has ever met, and he's not very popular with his son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) either. A workaholic because he believes the company is about to replace him with a much younger and less expensive model, Bob is planning a family vacation to Hawaii on his week off, hoping this will patch things up with his wife (Cheryl Hines). Then his three-thousand-dollar suit boss drops the bomb. They need him at a sales pitch in Colorado smack in the middle of that Hawaiian vacation.

Rather than admit to his family that he cannot go because of work, Bob comes up with the perfect solution -- a cross-country RV trip that can substitute and give him an excuse to drive into Boulder on the appointed day. Loading up his unhappy household into the RV, Bob quickly realizes that life on the road isn't what it's cracked up to be. They have sewage problems. Trailer parks are full of abnormally cheerful hillbillies. And he cannot get cell reception anywhere along the road for hundreds of miles. In their attempts to avoid a rambunctious and "irritating" family on the road (made up of Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth, with assorted children) the Munros also run afoul of dangerous mountain roads, an RV that doesn't want to stay in park, and vindictive raccoons.

The formula for the film is not so different from most in the genre, usually sporting a know-it-all wife, rebellious children, and the do-good father who is generally hated and more than abnormally stupid. That much being said, there's more heart to this story than most. In a world where the father figure is often painted as "evil" for choosing work over family, Bob makes a good point when he reminds them that he has to work in order to keep them financially stable enough so that they can live comfortably. His daughter also comes around to realizing that her issues have more to do with personal problems than her dad's behavior, so there's a nice family reconciliation amidst the chaos and hilarity that ensues when you pack up a group of "townies" and send them on vacation. Originally a country girl, I found some of their situations amusing -- because I've seen these stunts pulled by unassuming relatives on occasion.

Most of the content is comprised of what is commonly known as "potty humor" revolving around a stopped up sewer drain in the RV (it sprays everyone within a hundred yards with fecal matter), and other related cracks. Cassie unknowingly eats deer organs. Bob pretends to have bowl problems in order to get out of a nature walk with his family. There are maybe a dozen mild profanities. Busty Mary Jo wears a lot of low-cut tops, and her cleavage undermines her performance on occasion. The Munros initially express disgust at the notion of another family home-schooling their kids, only to be surprised to learn that the children are exceptionally talented and smart. It's a nice little nod to a lifestyle that many families find more productive than public school. It's not a brainy film, but it is enjoyable.