RV (film)
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| RV (Runaway Vacation) | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Barry Sonnenfeld |
| Produced by | Douglas Wick |
| Written by | Geoff Rodkey |
| Starring | Robin Williams Cheryl Hines Jeff Daniels Joanna "JoJo" Levesque Kristin Chenoweth Josh Hutcherson |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Fred Murphy |
| Editing by | Kevin Tent |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 99 min. |
| Country |    |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65 million |
| Gross revenue | $86,892,180 |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
RV or Runaway Vacation[1] is a 2006 comedy film starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Kristin Chenoweth, and Josh Hutcherson. The movie began filming in the Vancouver area and southern Alberta on May 25, 2005 and finished filming in December 2005. It was released on April 28, 2006 in North America. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 15, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
At the start of the movie, Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is the head of a dysfunctional family, which also consists of his wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines), their daughter Cassie (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque), and their son Carl (Josh Hutcherson).
The film then[clarify] cuts to approximately a decade later. The surly and sarcastic Cassie is 15, Carl is an adolescent weightlifter who likes Rap and Hip-Hop, and Bob is an employee of the fictional beverage company Pure Vibe in California. At a public company picnic, Bob tells Cassie to make small talk with his boss Todd (Will Arnett). There, Cassie's teenage friend, Gretchen, accuses Todd of making children unhealthy and pours a sticky material over him.
Bob, trying to ignore the fact that he will be fired as a result of Gretchen's deed, decides to take his family to Hawaii after numerous requests. However, at the last minute, Todd tells him that he will instead promote Bob if he gives a business presentation at the merger of Pure Vibe and Alpine Soda at Boulder, Colorado. With no choice but to accept for fear of losing a promotion, and not willing to disclose to his family the real reason for going to Boulder, Bob rents an RV, which they call "The Big Rolling Turd" and tells his family they're traveling to the Rockies.
They encounter other mishaps. Among them the parking brake being ruined due to a sharp turn taken by Bob after his wife distracts him, destroying the fenceposts, the RV running over a long row of shopping carts and a clogged sewage system which the RV manager Irv (Barry Sonnenfeld) never bothered to clean out from the previous tenants. After that, the Munros meet another camping family, the Gornickes, consisting of Travis (Jeff Daniels), Mary Jo (Kristin Chenoweth), and their sons and daughter, Earl (Hunter Parrish), Billy (Alex Ferris), and Moon (Chloe Sonnenfeld). After failing to cook a meal, Bob agrees to have his family eat with the Gornickes. There, Earl develops a romantic interest in Cassie and Carl starts to like Moon.
Thinking that the Gornickes are too strange for them, the Munros decide to leave them as early the next morning as possible. Later, however, at another stop, they meet again and the Munros think it is too unlikely to be a coincidence. Again, they leave the Gornickes as soon as possible, thinking that they are stalking them.
To disguise from his family that their vacation is really a business trip, Bob hides in the campsite's restroom, trying to do office work and e-mail his boss there. After Bob is distracted by Carl, a hitchhiker steals Bob's laptop from the men's room, leaving him with only a BlackBerry PDA. The hitchhiker is later picked up by the Gornickes' bus.
After Billy Gornicke notices that the hitchhiker is using Bob's uniquely-decorated laptop and must have stolen it, they take the laptop and toss the hitchhiker out on the highway. The Gornickes catch up to the Munros' RV, making gestures that they want to return the laptop. However, none of the Munros understand the gestures, and still thinking that the Gornickes are stalking them, they exit the highway.
At the destination, Carl and Cassie meet three young gangsters at a playground, who act in a threatening manner. Bob scares off the gangsters by imitating their talking style (in the alternate DVD version, Bob imitates the stereotypical kung-fu master).
After being summoned to another business meeting in Boulder, Bob distracts his family by telling them he is sick and that they should go hiking, he then drives off in the RV to the meeting.
Meanwhile, Bob drives to the meeting, and due to a highway traffic jam, detours onto a steep, treacherous trail, where the RV gets stuck on some rocks at the very summit after climbing up a steep pass. After Bob goes out, the RV slides ahead down the hill, leaving Bob to hang onto the wipers, but he survives. The family, on their hike, finds him passed out as he awakes. The next day they drive to the lake and get out to admire the lake. The RV brakes fail again and it rolls into the lake. Bob lets it slip the true intentions of the Colorado vacation. His family is upset by this news. Then, needing to get to another corporate meeting, Bob dives down and retrieves a bike.
After Bob leaves, Jamie, Carl, and Cassie are picked up by the Gornickes' bus. It turns out that the Gornickes are going past Bob's corporate meeting destination, just as Bob catches him on the bike. Bob is about to blow off the meeting and lose his job to keep his family when Travis points out where they are.
At the meeting, after Bob starts a speech and it looks well but then Bob, realizing that Todd would destroy a great family company recommends against the merger. This leads to Todd, Cassie and Carl getting in a skirmish and Bob is fired. Bob decides to quit anyway. Bob also discovers that the Gornickes were people who only wanted to help.
Later, the RV is retrieved, and Bob is driving it, but they are pulled over by the owners of the Alpine Soda company with the help of the police. The owners, based upon his resignation speech from Pure Vibe, offer to employ him. Just then, the RV rolls again, running over the police car and the Alpine owner's cars.
The credits roll, as the two families are shown dancing and singing the song, " Route 66" (RV Style), at a party.
[edit] Soundtrack
The score was written by James Newton Howard and featured several members of the Lyle Lovett Band: Matt Rollings (keyboards), Russ Kunkel (drums), Ray Herndon (guitar), Viktor Krauss (bass), and Buck Reed (pedal steel). Alvin Chea, vocalist from Take 6, provided solo vocals. Additional music was provided by Stuart Michael Thomas and Blake Neely.
Several songs were featured prominently in the film including: "GTO", "Route 66", and "Stand By Your Man".
[edit] Cast
- Robin Williams as Bob Munro
- Cheryl Hines as Jamie Munro
- Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Cassie Munro
- Josh Hutcherson as Carl Munro
- Jeff Daniels as Travis Gornicke
- Kristin Chenoweth as Mary Jo Gornicke
- Chloe Sonnenfeld as Moon Gornicke
- Hunter Parrish as Earl Gornicke
- Alex Ferris as Billy Gornicke
- Will Arnett as Todd Mallory
- Matthew Gray Gubler as Joe Joe
[edit] Box office and critical reception
RV grossed a moderate $86,892,180 in worldwide relase,[2] was panned by most critics and holds a "Rotten" score of 23% on RottenTomatoes.[3]
- "There is nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend." — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- "RV works up an ingratiating sweetness that partially compensates for its blunt predictability and meager laughs." — Justin Chang, Variety
In addition to these critical drubbings, RV was also the recipient of the Golden Raspberry Awards for the newly-created category "Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment".[4]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Silent Hill |
Box office number-one films of 2006 (USA) April 30, 2006 |
Succeeded by Mission: Impossible III |
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