Robin Williams returns to his comedy territory involving family (think “Mrs. Doubtfire”) which is why we love him best. Bob Munro’s (Robin Williams) family is drifting apart, so he plans a trip to Hawaii, until Bob’s about to lose his job and he has one chance to save it – a trip to Boulder, Colorado to make a presentation for a merger.
His wife (Cheryl Hines) is furious and his teens are beyond ungrateful and difficult, so he rents a recreational vehicle to go cross-country, in hopes of re-bonding with the kids, a la Chevy Chase in “Vacation.” And so the trip begins, with raccoon pranks, toilet humor and camper interaction. The trailer trash couple (Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth) – a family called the Gornickes, who home-school their kids – are the quintessential “Cousin Eddie” (Randy Quaid in “Vacation”). The movie is silly family fun. Williams proves his energy and passion still can drive a movie (and a RV) but it’s the unsupportive wife that makes for a few ants short a picnic. In “Vacation,” Chase’s wife (Beverly DiAngelo) was his supporting character, while in this, the wife is a spoiled Princess, the tone of dishonesty continues to the end. Hines’s character never has a true revelation in understanding the lengths her husband will go to, in order to keep her a house mom in the lap of luxury. THREE CROWNS