{"id":44473,"date":"2005-01-21T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2005-01-21T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=44473"},"modified":"2016-04-16T19:12:42","modified_gmt":"2016-04-17T02:12:42","slug":"review-are-we-there-yet-dir-brian-levant-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/01\/review-are-we-there-yet-dir-brian-levant-2005.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: Are We There Yet?<\/i> (dir. Brian Levant, 2005)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"arewethereyet\"<\/a>Since long before the invention of the automobile \u2014 and no doubt since long before the invention of the wheel itself \u2014 children the world over have had to cope with the fact that grown-ups will often try their patience by taking them on long and boring journeys. And now, thanks to so-called family films like Are We There Yet?<\/a><\/i>, children have plenty of opportunities to return the favor, as they drag their parents and guardians to the multiplex and compel them to sit through mediocre, clich\u00e9-ridden comedies about such journeys.<\/p>\n

There are two things potential audience members need to know about Are We There Yet?<\/i>. First, the film was originally developed as a vehicle, so to speak, for Adam Sandler, who ultimately passed on the project. In other words, the movie \u2014 which now stars rapper-turned-filmmaker Ice Cube as a playboy bachelor who hates kids but gives two precocious little tykes a ride just to impress their mother \u2014 is a hand-me-down, a film that failed to meet Sandler\u2019s own not-so-high standards. Second, the film is set, for the most part, on New Year\u2019s Eve, and may have been intended for the holidays \u2014 but the studio didn\u2019t release it until three weeks later, when box\u2013office competition is pretty soft. Perhaps this suggests a lack of confidence on the studio\u2019s part?<\/p>\n

It helps, at least, that the stars have a fair bit of charisma. However R-rated the bulk of his films might be, Ice Cube has in recent years been moving towards the family-friendly mainstream, first with the PG-13 Barbershop<\/a><\/i> movies \u2014 in which he plays a married father who is profoundly aware of the legacy he has inherited from his own old man \u2014 and now with this, his first solid PG effort. His character, Nick Persons, still has a bit of gangsta in him, and his attraction to Suzanne Kingston (Nia Long), the divorced mother he tries to impress, is primarily sexual, but Ice Cube has that easygoing movie-star quality that lets you know there is nothing to worry about; Nick\u2019s got a heart of gold. Likewise, Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden are amusing as Lindsey and Kevin, the children who bedevil Nick and drive him to distraction while he drives them to Vancouver to meet their mother.<\/p>\n

Still, personality only goes so far, and Are We There Yet?<\/i> is more interested in crass humor than in creating remotely believable characters that we might actually care about. Sometimes the lowbrow approach works, as when Lindsey and Kevin set up a series of elaborate booby traps to ward off the men who would dare to come knocking on their mother\u2019s door. Sometimes it\u2019s just painful; as Home Alone<\/i> proved so many years ago, children like nothing more than to see a man get hit in the groin, and this film does aim to please. And sometimes the gags just seem inappropriate for a \u201cfamily film\u201d, particularly when both Nick and his talking Satchel Paige bobblehead doll (voice of Tracy Morgan) \u2014 don\u2019t ask \u2014 make admiring remarks about Suzanne\u2019s breasts. (For that matter, what is Nichelle Nichols, aka Star Trek<\/a><\/i>\u2019s Lt. Uhura, doing here as a lusty old babysitter who farts in her sleep and promises Nick \u201ca guided tour of Sin City\u201d!?)<\/p>\n

But it isn\u2019t all<\/i> innuendo, slapstick humor and physical abuse. The filmmakers \u2014 including director Brian Levant (Beethoven<\/i>, Snow Dogs<\/i>, both Flintstones<\/i> movies) and at least four credited writers \u2014 know enough about family films to know that a movie in this genre must impart some sort of lesson to the audience, as well. And so they come up with a few worthy themes: Nick, who values material possessions above all else, must endure the gradual destruction of his Lincoln Navigator in order to learn what really matters, while the children must learn to let go of the father who abandoned them, and so on. The problem is, these moments of enlightenment are delivered in a rather clunky manner, and they don\u2019t really fit in with all the chaos and mayhem that comes before and after them; instead of allowing one scene to grow organically into the next, the film feels like it was carelessly patched together from a list of obligatory ingredients.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s slapdash style only intensifies in its later scenes, in which, among other things, Nick comes to blows with a startled deer, takes a call on his cell phone while chasing a train on horseback, teaches Kevin how to deal with bullies by making nasty facial expressions at them, and contends with a trucker who thinks the children need rescuing because one of them put a \u201cHelp us!\u201d sign in the window of Nick\u2019s SUV. Suffice to say the film, short as it is, has so much padding \u2014 none of which really holds together, in the end \u2014 that parents may well spend the last few reels checking their watches and itching to ask their children, \u201cIs it over yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

1.5 stars (out of 4)<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

Talk About It
\nDiscussion starters<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

1. Nick holds on to his material possessions, while the children hold on to the hope that their father will be reunited to their mother. How do these forms of \u201cholding on\u201d compare to one another? Should both sets of characters let go of the things they are holding on to? How do you know when it\u2019s better to let go than to hold on?<\/p>\n

2. Do you think Nick and Suzanne know each other well enough to have any sort of relationship yet? What about the way the children interfere with their mother\u2019s dating prospects? Should she have to get their approval? Why or why not?<\/p>\n

3. How do we teach patience to children, whether on long drives or in other situations? How do we learn it ourselves?<\/p>\n

The Family Corner
\nFor parents to consider<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Are We There Yet?<\/i> is rated PG for language and rude humor. Nick utters a few mild oaths, but is challenged on this by the children. Nick and his talking bobblehead doll also make fairly frank references to Suzanne\u2019s sexual attractiveness. In addition, there are scenes of children vomiting and urinating at comically inappropriate moments; there is a fair bit of property damage, particularly to Nick\u2019s car; and the film exploits Asian and Amish stereotypes for quick throwaway gags.<\/p>\n

\u2014 A version of this review was first published at Christianity Today Movies.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since long before the invention of the automobile \u2014 and no doubt since long before the invention of the wheel itself \u2014 children the world over have had to cope with the fact that grown-ups will often try their patience by taking them on long and boring journeys. And now, thanks to so-called family films […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[2558,3607,3610,3611,3608,3609],"class_list":["post-44473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianitytoday","tag-adam-sandler","tag-are-we-there-yet-2005","tag-barbershop","tag-brian-levant","tag-ice-cube","tag-nichelle-nichols"],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Are We There Yet? (dir. 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