RV

By: debbie lynn elias

When I first saw the promos and trailers for this film , my initial thought was, “not another Griswold family-type vacation film.” Been there. Done that. It’s the 21st Century. Let’s move on with movie making. My second thought on noticing that Barry Sonnenfeld would be directing was, hmmm – Sonnenfeld’s first feature film in four years. Good with comedy. Great with deadpan. The film has potential. Might not be a Griswold clone. But then there’s Robin Williams – the Tasmanian Devil of comedy; an uncontrolled tornado of fun – which then posed the even bigger question: Could his side-splitting, tears-streaming-down-your-face laughter be contained and worked into the project? After seeing the film, my answer is yes. Formulaic almost to a fault, and at times to its detriment, the end result is a sweet, enjoyable, light, fun film for the whole family.

Self-perceived family man Bob Munro is a workaholic. With children now beyond their ones and twos and threes when Daddy was the center of the universe, Bob has plunged himself into his work as a PR executive for a cola/soda company. Yet, he yearns for the day when he was the apple of his kids’ eyes. Planning a Brady Bunch style family vacation to Hawaii, no one is more disappointed than Bob when his work forces him to cancel the vacation. But wait! Like a light bulb over Wily Coyote’s head, Bob has a flash of brilliance. (Bob’s always get flashes of brilliance. Just ask my brother Bob.) Work mandates that Bob be in Colorado, so what if Bob takes the whole family to the Rockies with him? Great idea! But let’s go one step further. Just to make it a really fun family vacation, let’s rent an RV and DRIVE. And did I mention that Bob has no plans to tell the family he has to work and that’s the reason they lose out on Hawaii in favor of an RV? Oops.

As excited as a kid on Christmas, Bob springs the vacation destination change on the family in his own inimitable fashion – by pulling up in front of his nice home in his nice upper middle class suburban neighborhood with a God-awful looking RV that screams out “RENT ME” on its side (along with director Sonnenfeld’s face). Embarrassed beyond belief at the site, Bob’s teenaged kids Cassie and Carl, want to run and hide. Actually, so does his wife Cheryl. But imagine their sheer horror at the prospect of spending weeks cooped up in an RV driving to Colorado with your parents. Eewww!! Not one to be dissuaded, or be forced to disclose his real agenda, Bob gathers the group and off they go for the vacation of their lives. Yeah, right. No – seriously. Yeah! Right!

Beset by one catastrophe after another, Bob’s foibles are the comedic fodder which gives the film its heart, soul and funny-bone. From a failure to read the directions on how to empty the toilet in the RV (my absolute hands down funniest shtick in the film) to the RV being over-run by thieving raccoons to an over-the-top moment with the RV stuck on the edge of a narrow mountain pass (think Lucille Ball in “The Long Long Trailer”) the laughs just keep on coming.

Robin Williams would not have been my first choice as Bob Munro. But now having seen him, I admit I was wrong in that thinking. A skilled dramatic actor as well as a comedian, we are rarely given a chance to see Williams in a role that balances the two. Here, he excels as Bob Munro. As he did in “Jumanji”, Williams gives the character heart, yet retains the silly innocence of a dad who makes mistakes and can laugh at himself, all while giving us a slightly more sedate version of his improvisational comedy style that fills the film with laughter. And as Williams underplays his role so as not to be the center of attention, the other cast members are allowed to develop and shine in their own right. Cheryl Hines steps in as Bob’s supportive wife Jamie. Likeable and loyal, she is the sanity behind the insanity. Joanna Levesque embodies the moody teenaged Cassie while young Josh Hutcherson, who stole the show in “Little Manhattan, turns in another phenomenal performance, this time as Carl Munro. Jeff Daniels comes in as banjo-playing, white trash, comic foil, Travis Gornicke and is as funny as a crutch, providing come great physical comedy reminiscent of that in “Trial and Error.”

Having penned the screenplay for “Daddy Day Care” and “The Shaggy Dog”, screenwriter Geoff Rodkey is no stranger to family comedies. The script is solid and, come on, let’s face it, unskilled drivers in RV’s make for funny. Make Robin Williams that unskilled driver, and you’ve got funnier funny. The core of the film is the Munro family itself and despite a few missed comedic opportunities, Rodkey captures the breezy easiness and familial sarcasm one sees in real families everyday. (I would almost swear Rodkey was a fly on the wall listening to my brother Ed and I when he captured some of this dialogue!) The most inspired bit of writing, however, comes with the appearances of the Gornickes – Mary Jo and Travis and their 3 kids, Moon, Earl and Billy. Perfectly placed throughout the film, there is consistent laughter each time they appear.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld is no stranger to comedy. The guiding force behind “Men in Black”, Sonnenfeld has an innate sense of balance, knowing when to put on the brakes and pull back on the guffaws, without the audience losing interest, and without selling the story short. Although there are times that the toilet jokes seem to run on like water in a toilet with a loose handle, it’s not long before Sonnenfeld’s quick pacing serves as rescue, moving right into the next Munro family misadventure.

“RV” – camped out in theaters now. It will make you laugh. It will make you smile. Put simply, it’s just nice, funny, good “clean” family fun.

Robin Williams: Bob Munro Jeff Daniels: Travis Gornicke Cheryl Hines: Jamie Munro

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Written by Geoff Rodkey. A Columbia Pictures release. Rated PG. (98 min)