Movie Review: RV

Sonnenberg pokes fun at a funny All American family

Cassie, age 5: Daddy, when I grow up, I'm not gonna get married.
Bob Munro: Why, it's not as bad as it looks.
Cassie, age 5: But then I'll have to move, and I don't want to leave you.

We felt like a comedy, and who better to tickle you than Robin Williams? He plays an overworked Bob Munro, husband and father to two difficult teenagers.

But the movie starts with Bob (Williams) reading a bedtime story to a cute little girl who says to him: “I never want to get married, because I always want you to be my daddy.” Ag shame. Fast forward a couple of years and that sweet little girl is quite different.

Now Bob is struggling to reach his kids, and his family are even more unimpressed when he cancels their holiday trip to Hawaii in favour of a RV vacation in Colorado. If you don’t already know, an RV is a Recreational Vehicle, far more so than a SUV. Think of a bus-sized vehicle filled with beds and various other modcons, and you get the idea.

Bob has to give up the Hawaii holiday because his boss orders him to attend a conference in Colorado, and so Bob tries to make the best of the situation. What makes this movie funny is Bob’s efforts at subterfuge – because he wants quality time with his family but doesn’t tell his family this trip is actually part business trip. It’s also amusing how Bob gradually turns a brand new RV into a crumpled, smelly moving glob of mud.

Barry Sonnenfield directed this wonderful movie, and it’s wonderful for a number of reasons. There are plenty of fresh faces and fresh vistas. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve seen America look quite as stunning ever. Some landscapes reminded me of the southeastern Free State, but others, especially the Rockies (complete with pine forests and silver lakes) are all-American. This forms a fine backdrop for Bob’s kafuffles.

What is also enjoyable about this flick is how Bob’s family (who at first pull up their noses at the idea of a holiday in an RV) contrast to the other ‘dumber’ families in the RV parks. Jeff Daniels does a fine job as the head of a sensitive and stupid (apparently) family who live permanently in their cool/over the top fire-engine red RV.

After a number of arguments and fight-filled episodes, the family start to appreciate the real star of the movie: the great outdoors. Bob finds it more difficult to find time to take it all in, as he is constantly rushing around trying to be in two places at once. The scene of Bob on a silver, Harley-like bicycle (with Harley like handlebars and a matching silver helmet) racing downhill through the forest is priceless. I wonder if those are real bike skills from Robin – Williams is, after all, a close friend of Lance Armstrong.

Bob’s attempt of the impossibly steep Diablo Pass is side-splitting. It reminded me of some of my own experiences with a broken down bakkies in Sea Point. (Please read my article How to not drive).

RV is good escapist fun for the whole family. If you’re after a moral to the story, there is one. It’s not cheesy though. I think Sonnenberg has done a good job to show how a family can grow apart, how difficult it is to reconcile those differences, and the power of the great outdoors to bring people together: back to who they are, back to who they were to begin with.

Bob Munro: Welcome aboard, everybody. Before we embark, I think we should give this beauty a name. Suggestions?
Cassie Munro: The Turd.
Carl Munro: The Big Rolling Turd?
Bob Munro: In that spirit, we set forth.

Also starring Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth, Joana ‘JoJo’ Levesque
Produced by Bobby Cohen, Ryan Kavanaugh and Aslan Nadery