Reviewed by

Christopher Armstead

Nothing says funny quite like fecal matter.  Gobs of the brown gooey stuff just cascading down on someone’s head?  Man, that’s always gonna be funny.  We are kidding about that, by the way.  But there is such a scene in ‘RV’ the latest vehicle, so to speak, for Robin Williams which is actually funnier that it has any right to be and fairly good if unchallenging time at the show.

Mr. Williams has, at least temporarily, put his serious ‘acting’ career on hold to once again return to crazy wackiness that once endeared Mork from Ork to us who were twelve years old back in the early eighties.  Here he plays Bob Munro, a hard working dedicated marketing executive for a large soft drink conglomerate with the single mission of taking over the world.  As we know, Hollywood types frown on big business and their aggressive tactics in taking over anything except, of course, when it comes to movie studios taking over other movie studios.  This particular soft drink conglomerate is run by the completely slimy, anal retentive Todd Mallory (Will Arnette) who’s idea of good business is placing pop machines full of processed sugary teeth-rotting garbage for kiddies to fill their bladders with in elementary school cafeterias.  Not that putting reprocessed sugary brain-rotting garbage such as ‘Chicken Little’ or ‘Valiant’ in theaters for little kiddies is any better.  Okay, enough with the hypocrisy of Hollywood liberalism.  On with the show!

The Munro’s have a big Hawaii vacation planned, but evil Todd demands that Bob be in Colorado to secure the merger of this local soft drink company.  So instead of telling his family that they can’t go to Hawaii, Bob rents a huge gauche RV and loads the family, which consists of a wife (Cheryl Hines) an extremely disrespectful teenage daughter (JoJo.  Yo, that’s her name) and a Malibu hip-hoppin’ adolescent (Josh Hutcherson) for a road trip full of wackiness, zaniness and family bonding mayhem!

Of course Bob doesn’t tell his family that he’s actually on a business trip, though he easily could have, but where’s the movie in that?  Along the way, the big city rude Munro’s meet the simple, but fun lovin’, RV’n, Country singin’ Gornicke’s headed by the always excellent Jeff Daniels and we have enough comedic head buttin’ for two movies!

This one has quite a few funny bits that’s bound to keep you laughing throughout.  Throw in a scene with an overflowing RV waste portal and we’re talking big time humor here folks.  Again as we see with most movies coming out of that California factory, it’s not very original.  The well worn tale of a man who works too hard to smell the roses and must learn through trials and tribulations how wonderful his family is, and that they are so much more important than his silly job that pays rent and puts food in the fridge.  The actually ‘story’ surrounding ‘RV’ is so lame it’s almost painful to watch, but it IS funny.  Think ‘Vacation’ only with a funny guy playing the dad.  Sorry Chevy, you didn’t deserve that.

It ain’t art people.  Fecal matter and art don’t mix.  Fecal matter and funny does.  I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this one, don’t be surprised if you do to.

 

Buds Second:  I am not particularly proud to say that I, too, liked 'RV'.  Yes, the story is pretty lame and not at all original (thogh I did find Robin William's character to be charming).  But I'm not going to let the story get in the way of a funny movie.  If you want intelligent comedy, I will once again recommend 'Thank you for Smoking' ...but if you are interested in a silly movie that will leave you with no choice but to laugh, 'RV' is better than most.

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