Review of College Road Trip (2008) by Chads. — 19 Mar 2008

"The Cosby Show" was something new before "Something New" was something new. Every Thursday night, America tuned in to a sitcom about affluent black people. Raven Symone was on that show.

She was Olivia. "College Road Trip", in its own quiet way, pays homage to the Huxtables, since Melanie(Symone) wants to study law(Clair Huxtable(Phylicia Rashad) was an attorney). Melanie chooses between Northwestern and Georgetown.

Most, if not all, movies about young black people with a dream, dream about being a basketball star, a singer, or a step-dancer. Black people go to college. But not in the movies. That's why Melanie's choice of lofty schools may take you aback.

This is virgin territory. And how does "College Road Trip" handle its story about a matriculating black teen? Not very well. One word. Pig. They needed the pig because the filmmaker realized that dad's obsession with his daughter was starting to get creepy(e.

G. Tony Danza in "She's Out of Control"). The pig doesn't save "College Road Trip". But Donny Osmond does. He's Neil Patrick Harris in "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle"-funny.

For most of its running time, "College Road Trip" is either innocuous or schmaltzy. When Osmond and Molly Ephraim grace the screen, they hijack the film, as a tight-knit father and daughter unit from hell.

By no stretch of the imagination is this witless road film any good. But you shouldn't dismiss "College Road Trip" so easily. When Chief James Porter(Martin Lawrence) and his wife give a couple, a white couple, advice about raising a child.

That's something new. The film is colorblind. But we're not. If you watch a lot of movies, you'll understand that this role-reversal is quietly revelatory.