RV

Review by: Doc

Robin Williams belongs in the pantheon of the Funniest Men to Ever Exist...
The latest entry in the “family road trip ” genre, RV joins movies ranging from the classic National Lampoon’s Vacation to the forgettable Are We There Yet. The real advantage of this movie, in fact, most of its advantage, lies in its star, Robin Williams.


Robin Williams belongs in the pantheon of the Funniest Men to Ever Exist, and, as much as the script will let him , he lives up to this reputation here. He plays the patriarch of the Munro clan, a family beset by 21st Century separation syndrome. His classic line, “We watch TV in four different rooms and IM each other when dinner’s ready.” Unable to face his wife with the news that his boss has forced him to cancel a Hawaiian vacation to make a presentation in Colorado, he concocts an RV cross-country road trip as a way to reconnect with the kids, and allow him to go to Colorado without his wife any the wiser.


The idea that any wife wouldn’t see through this is the first of several RV-sized plot holes and the suspension of disbelief required was just too much for me to really get into this movie. The TV-sitcom-one-situation-fixes-all resolution of this family’s problems was totally off the wall. That being said, it is an uproariously funny movie.


When Williams wings it, as in a basketball court rap soliloquy, he is a joy to behold. Most of the humor is slapstick, with clogged toilet matter and other scatological references playing a large role.


My favorite sections of the movie deal with the Gornicke family. A redneck all-year round RV family who help teach the snobbish city-folk Munros that not all things are as they seem. As the arrogant teen daughter, well-played by Joanna Levesque, blurts out when learning that the oldest Gornicke skipped a grade and is headed for Stanford early, “You mean, you’re smart!?!” The Gornicke parents, played Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenowith, are wonderful in their supporting roles.


Enjoyable overall, and occasionally hilarious, I can recommend this movie even as it makes me long for the immortal Griswolds. There are no scenes that even approach the dog tied to the bumper or the dead aunt on the roof, but I am looking forward to the DVD as I suspect it will have the funniest outtakes and bloopers of any recent film. I give it 3 of 5 scalpels and a still-chuckling phalanx up.

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