RV (film)

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RV (Runaway Vacation)
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBarry Sonnenfeld
Written byGeoff Rodkey
Produced byDouglas Wick
StarringRobin Williams
Cheryl Hines
JoJo
Josh Hutcherson
CinematographyFred Murphy
Edited byKevin Tent
Music byJames Newton Howard
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
April 28, 2006
Running time
99 min.
CountriesUnited Kingdom
Germany
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$65 million
Box office$86,892,180

RV or Runaway Vacation is a 2006 comedy film starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, JoJo, 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.

Taglines:

  • On a family vacation, no one can hear you scream.
  • One family. Eight wheels. No brakes.
  • The family that vacations together... is asking for it."

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 (JoJo), and their son Carl (Josh Hutcherson).

The film then cuts to approximately a decade later, where 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, decides to take his family to Hawaii after numerous requests. However, at the last minute, Todd tells him that he will instead give him a promotion (for an earlier favor he has done) 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, and tells his family they're traveling to the Rockies, making hardly believable excuses.

After a difficult time getting the ungainly RV out of the neighborhood, they encounter other mishaps, including the RV running over a long row of shopping carts. Later, at a campsite, Carl discovers that the RV's sewage system is clogged, and after "help" from other campers, it is finally cleaned, although it results in Bob being covered by fecal matter. 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, Carl starts to like Moon, and they begin to engage in small talk often (though they never go as far as kissing or showing other displays of affection on-screen).

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. He has trouble getting a signal to his boss on the Blackberry, but eventually does. The hitchhiker is later coincidentally 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 throw him 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. Just then, the RV slides into the water, but Bob, needing to get to another corporate meeting, dives down and retrieves a bike, after the RV rolls into the lake and disappears.

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.

At the meeting, after Bob starts a speech, Todd, Cassie and Carl get 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 police. At the same time, the owners of Alpine Soda 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.

Released

Cast

Trivia

  • "Irv", the cowboy-hatted RV rental spokesman depicted on the side of the family's RV, is played by director Barry Sonnenfeld. The name is a pun of "I" and "RV", the subject of this movie. Since Barry directed the film, Irv could be an example of a meta-joke. The meta-joke stems from the pun, not the cameo.
  • The RV park that is set in Nevada is really outside of Vancouver.
  • The sky in the first RV park was digitally changed because you could actually see Vancouver at the back.
  • The "Happy Max" RV is a 1948 Flxible .
  • Josh Hutcherson and Robin Williams were both in movies based on Chris Van Allsburg Books, for example: Robin Williams was in Jumanji and Josh Hutcherson was in Zathura and The Polar Express.
  • Carly Schroeder was supposed to play Cassie, but was forced to drop out due to filming conflicts.
  • The raccoon that infiltrates the RV is referred to as Rocky by Bob Munro (Robin Williams). This is a nod to the famous western Beatles song Rocky Raccoon. Also, Bob mentions a couple of lines from the song. ("C'mon, Rocky boy") and such.
  • Beside Cassie's bed in the RV scenes is a picture of Freddy Adu. (JoJo's boyfriend at the time.)
  • After the motorhome's brakes unlock yet again and sinks into the lake, but is towed out of there two days later, the engine still manages to run. It is generally known that an engine, after being flooded, usually takes weeks to restore to working condition.
  • Barry Sonnenfeld's daughter Chloe plays Moon Gornicke in the movie; this is the first "real" movie she has performed in. She also starred in Big Trouble, another film by Sonnenfeld.
  • The name John Vagushine was used in another Barry Sonnenfeld film, Big Trouble. In this film, Bob's friend who he speaks about is named John Vagushine. In Big Trouble, it is the pilot of a hijacked plane.
  • The tagline is a reference to Alien, whose tagline is: In space, no one can hear you scream.
  • The character of Howie was originally supposed to be played by Matthew Gray Gubler, but the part eventually went to Brendan Fletcher, and Gubler was cast as Joe Joe.
  • In Carl's room, posters of Nas, Eminem, and John Cena are seen.
  • In one part when Robin Williams is talking to his "son", he mentions another movie he has participated in, Jack.
  • When Bob is using his PDA, one of the names visible is KEATJ, a possible reference to Robin Williams' role in the film Dead Poets' Society
  • Just before the RV plunges into the lack, Robin Williams talks with his "family" about getting the vehicle fixed. He says he'll take the RV to Boulder and get it repaired. Boulder is a prominent town in that region of Colorado and was the setting of the television series Mork and Mindy, of which Williams portrayed one of the titular characters.

Box office and critical reception

RV grossed only $86,892,180 in world wide relase,[1] was panned by most critics and holds a dismal "23% Rotten" score on RottenTomatoes.[2]

  • "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".[3]

References

  1. ^ Box Office Mojo RV
  2. ^ RV - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
  3. ^ Golden Raspberry Award Foundation

External links

Template:Box Office Leaders USA

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