Review of RV (2006) by Jesse O — 23 Jun 2017

You know, I never get tired of this and I never will, but I fucking miss Robin Williams with a passion. He was a man that was left his impact on FIVE different generations dating back to the late 70s. I think this is why so many people mourned him when he passed away.

Not only was he a beloved actor due to his immense talents, but he was a man that a lot of people grew up watching. So, to them, while not personally knowing the man, he was very much a part of their childhood.

And I'm not saying that those closest to him didn't suffer the loss more, but it's rare to see a celebrity's death bring so many different people together in their love and admiration for this man.

If I could bring back Robin Williams (completely healthy for 30 more years) in exchange for the current president of the United States, I would do it in a fucking second. What's there to even think about? A man who brought happiness and laughter to millions versus a piece of shit? Who would you pick? But the 00s all the way up to his death weren't exactly kind to him or his career.

And I said this even prior his death. With the exception of Insomnia, One Hour Photo and World's Greatest Dad, his post-2000s career wasn't great. And this movie sort of falls in that career slump he suffered.

I will say, however, that in spite of this film's predictability and slapstick-heavy approach to its comedy, it's never as bad as one would reasonably expect. It's certainly better than Old Dogs (probably Robin's worst film of his post-2000s career).

I do believe that a lot of that is due to Robin's charisma and his energy. Like I said just now, it's not that the film is bad, it's just that it is fairly uninspired and lazy in its reliance on physical comedy.

And there's nothing wrong with slapstick in the slightest, but the reliance on it here feels more they just really didn't bother to write a good enough script that could stand on its own merits.

I have very little, if anything, to say about the dialogue in this film. And that's for one reason only, there's no actual witty dialogue here. The story is pretty much precisely what would expect.

Dad rents an RV and forces his family to go on a road trip to the Rockies under the guise of spending more time with his kids before the youngest goes off to summer camp and the oldest goes off to college or something.

In reality, Bob (Robin's character) had to cancel the family's trip to Hawaii in order for him to give a presentation for these people that Bob's boss's company hopes to merge with. On the journey, he has to write the presentation itself, first on a laptop that is stolen and then on a Blackberry phone.

This is a struggle in and of itself, but that's neither here nor there. On the journey there, the Munros find themselves getting into all sorts of hi-jinks involving their RV's clogged sewage system, damaging the parking brakes, flushing out wild raccoons with stink bombs, coming across another family that Munros feel are stalking them throughout the entire film, even though this family (the Gornickes) are good, honest people that only mean well.

This relationship between the Munros and the Gornickes is a little weird, if only because they make the Munros (the protagonists) look like the most unlikable assholes. The Munros very openly look down on the Gornickes.

It's sort of mystifying that they'd even do this with people that, in theory, in spite of their differences, you're supposed to like. It'd be one thing if the Gornickes were annoying like Rob Schneider (fuck that guy) is in every movie he's in, but they're not.

Yes, they've got their annoyances, but we all do. So, yea, that was weird to see. Other than that, the film covers all the basic ground. Cassie (Bob's teen daughter) finds her dad lame, his wife finds that he is constantly making things worse and his son, well, I don't really know what's wrong with his son.

He likes hip hop, I guess, though there's nothing actually wrong with that. The film has a strong supporting cast. Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth are both great here as the heads of the Gornicke family.

Cheryl Hines is always good. And I love Will Arnett, so there you go. The supporting cast certainly help elevate this as well. I'm debating whether or not to give this 2 or 2.5 stars. At the very least, I'd say that this movie was watchable.

It certainly should have been better, but it could have been considerably worse than it was. I just think the scripting left a lot to be desired, its reliance on slapstick humor instead of actually putting in the effort to construct witty dialogue and its predictability held it back.

I do think that the film's great cast helps a lot here, but how much do they help? I do think that they take a below average script and make it into a watchable movie. I don't think I can go higher than 2 stars honestly.

I don't feel comfortable saying that this is decent. I just don't. It's a movie that you spend some 90-odd minutes with and you move on from it. It's a diversion, nothing more nothing less.

I wouldn't recommend it, but if you want something silly that doesn't require much brain power (and won't make you pull your hair out) then this will do just fine. If you want a good comedy, then you're just barking up the wrong tree.