#45 - RV - 2006

The 3rd film I watched this week was RV. I actually thought the title of the film is actually RV but I guess it stands for Runaway Vacation which I never knew. I think most of us know that RV typically stands for Recreational Vehicle. This goes into the "I learn something new everyday" category for me. This film is actually a rarity for this week, it is a post 2000 film and there are only 2 of those this week, this one and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Below is my detailed review.

RV was a movie that looked very cool to me for several reasons when I first saw the trailer for it back in 2006. I love Robin Williams movies! It was an outdoor themed film! It included an RV (Recreational Vehicle!)! Hello? I see the makings for one fun filled family vacation film!! So with that being said it was one I was really looking forward to seeing and I was not disappointed at all. As you can see from my comments above there were several elements I was looking forward to when first seeing this film and they are the same elements that I enjoyed while seeing this one again. The acting, the outdoors, and the RV!


The acting was superb and credit there has to go to casting because they did a wonderful job with this cast of characters. Robin Williams was cast obviously as the main character, Bob Munro and his wife Jamie was played by Cheryl Hines. There kids Cassie and Carl were played by the singer/songwriter Joanna "Jo Jo" Levesque and Josh Hutcherson (the kid from Journey to the Center of the Earth and Bridge to Terabitha). Bob's boss Todd is played by the ever so talented Will Arnett. Also starring in this film is Jeff Daniels and Kristen Chenowith as Travis and Mary Jo Gornicke. This whole family is a hoot and the film wouldn't have been the same without them and their three kids named after NFL players.


Williams and Daniels were easily the two brightest stars in this film and for good reason. Williams had some unbelievably funny scenes when trying to rap (see later in the blog) and Daniels harmonica and banjo playing skills and rootin tootin talking left me laughing pretty hard at times. Both of Bob's kids, Cassie and Carl perfectly played the role of the spoiled teenager's. Carl was hilarious with his obsession to working out and Cassie was your typical short tempered ungrateful teen who hates her father. They obviously transitioned pretty well through the film as they became the more appreciative and understanding kids that ever parent would hope for. All in all this movie had a great cast and great acting throughout which made the film that much more enjoyable to watch!

I decided to watch this one on bluray because lets be honest any outdoorsy type movies look wonderful on bluray. If you cant tell from all the movies I've watched I definitely have gotten my money's worth with my bluray player and actually even more so since its actually a PS3 system. With the countless games played and movies watched I have absolutely loved my PS3 system and it will come in handy even more so next week when it is "bluray week"! Ok back to the film now. It was awesome in bluray! The scenes in the mountains with the trees, the lake, and the dirt roads were ridiculously crystal clear and made me wish all movies came automatically in high def. Yes it was that good and no I haven't even seen Avatar yet. haha. Ill settle for RV! haha.

Ok so obviously the setting of this film was quite picturesque and beautiful but the RV itself wasn't too shabby either. Sans the big "Irv" on the side of the RV it was pretty cool and as Bob so eloquently displayed the side of the RV actually transformed out to make for a larger living area inside the RV itself. FYI, this is something that is almost standard on all new RV's that are sold today, not that anyone is actually buying them anymore. My favorite scene with the RV was obviously when Bob went against the rules and drove up Diablo pass. Bob's frustration with Lola (his GPS voice) and eventual desperation to get over the hump was very very funny.

There were actually a lot of very funny scenes in this film, much more so than I originally had thought. Lets start with the sewage dump scene. If you've seen it your probably thinking to yourself what the heck, how was that funny but I noticed something completely different in that scene. I noticed the small miniature golf course in the middle of the dump site where all the RV's lined up. That to me was funny! I mean who the hell would want to play mini golf there! Pretty much all the scenes with the Gornicke family driving were funny but then again when your RV is labeled Happy Max how can it not be fun, right? There was also quite an encounter with some raccoons for Bob and his family that was pretty funny. Back to the Gornicke family for a second. How could one not laugh at their impromptu one song concert after dinner with the Munro's. haha. So many funny scenes and there are even more.


In probably my favorite scene of the whole film Bob comes to his son's defense when Carl was being made fun of after wanting to play basketball with some trailer park folk while at the campground. Williams spewed off some hip hop lingo to the guys stating "yo my mobilehomeboy what's tripping in the wood" and then after finding out they are from Scottsdale, Arizona he states "scottsdale in the zona". This scene was much longer and he had much more to say but those quotes were hilarious to me and his whole hip hop performance reminded me of a scene in Mr's Doubtfire with him. Very funny stuff. In another humorous scene he is talking with his daughter Cassie while playing billiards and said "we used to have one of these" referring to the billiards table and she said "so life used to be fun" and he quickly responded "it was fun but then something happened that was a lot more fun, we got the George Foreman smokeless grill". That one almost had me rolling on the ground because it was so unexpected and the way he delivered the line was just too damn funny!! Not to be outdone Daniels had some one liners that were classic as well like "I'm filled with chagrin" and "bit me on the seatmeat". You have to know his character to truly appreciate these quotes. All in all some really comedic stuff in this film.


So based on the comedy in this film, the beautiful crystal clear visuals, and a pretty humorous story which included at one point an accidental slide down a rock that turned into what can only be viewed as a very cool waterslide down a hill this movie pretty much had it all. Add in the musical ending with the corny as hell song and dance and this film was complete. I had forgotten how funny this one was and I am very happy that I added this to this marathon because it reminded me how good this film was. Plus this way if I ever see a $9.99 special for this one on buray I wont hesitate to pick it up. Easily worth a repeat viewing in my mind. This one gets an A!