Okay,
so RV has got some tired gags. The worst of which feature Robin Williams as the
foil of two pointless and unfunny encounters - one with a family of raccoons and
the other with a faulty septic tank. Sure it trades on the old out-of-touch modern
family who must band together to overcome challenge and adversity – and,
of course wind up rediscovering the importance of family. And true it borrows
heavily from the classic and obviously superior National Lampoon’s Vacation.
After seeing a trailer that made it look like a ramshackle, slapstick disaster
and noting the nearly unanimous drubbing it’s taking from the critics, I
fully expected it to suck. All of which didn’t stop me from taking my daughters
and my father in law to a matinee screening – somebody had to do it.
RV
is just one of those films like National Treasure - the critics are going to hate
it, but if you ask people coming out of the theater they’re going to tell
you it was awesome. I shall now attempt to make a case for those unenlightened
fools who are going to love it.
First
of all the film is cast to near perfection. Just the presence of Cheryl Hines
(Curb Your Enthusiasm) and two of the Bluth brothers from Arrested Development
(Will Arnett and Tony Hale) gave me hope that the wheels might stay attached to
this big green Robin Williams vehicle – at least for a while. And though
Barry Sonnenfeld’s directorial history is as uneven as Joan Rivers ears,
he does have Get Shorty and Men in Black under his belt. Here Sonnenfeld isn’t
nearly as guilty of slapping together the broad physical family road film that
the trailer suggests. He also manages to coax one of the most solid and surprisingly
restrained comic performances of Williams’ career - one that Steve Martin
would do well to take note of. The real ace-in-the-hole here is the child actors,
(Zathura’s Josh Hutcherson) proves he can nail a blank-stare dead-pan take
like a miniature Charles Grodin and (Aquamarine’s Jojo is equally effective
reacting to her boring disappointment of a father.
The
dialogue is surprisingly smart throughout most of the film, Arnette is picture
perfect as the callous bastard boss and Cheryl Hines proves that her brilliance
as Larry David’s TV wife is no fluke. RV also manages to get across a nice
pro-family message without resorting to the kind of insulting grandstanding presently
on display in the grossly overrated Akeelah and the Bee. So what’s not to
like? Along with a few too many cheap demographically-aimed gags, the film tries
a little too hard to recreate Randy Quaid’s unforgettable Cousin Eddie in
the person of Jeff Daniels and his hyper-happy Gornicke family. Even though there
were some laughs as Williams and family do their best to ditch the guileless,
but frighteningly cloying hospitality of the Gornicke’s, it just made the
comparison to National Lampoon’s Vacation all the more obvious.
In
any case RV is not the piece of crap on wheels that the critics are making it
out to be. It’s filled with a number of very likable comic performances and
amid all of the silliness there are a lot of small moments that ring true. There’s
no doubt that it sent 3 generations of my family home as pretty happy campers.
