RV parents guide

RV Parent Guide

Overall B

Robin Williams plays a crazed father who has visions of family bonding dancing in his head when he rents an RV and plans the ultimate road trip for his wife (Cheryl Hines) and children (Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque and Josh Hutcherson).

Release date April 27, 2006

Violence B
Sexual Content B
Profanity B-
Substance Use B+

Why is RV rated PG? The MPAA rated RV PG for crude humor, innuendo and language.

Parent Movie Review

Pack two disgruntled teenagers, one disappointed mom and a slightly dishonest dad into a gaudy, green RV and what do you have? A sure recipe for catastrophe.

Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is under a lot of pressure. In the office, an up-and-coming junior employee is threatening to take over his job. At home, his wife, Jamie (Cheryl Hines), is loving but somewhat distant and his children have permanently pasted earphones onto their heads. Everyone lives in his or her own little space. However, the kids are growing up and Bob realizes the time for bonding is short.

The perfect solution seems to be some close-quarter, quality family time. With that in mind, Bob rents an oversized recreational vehicle, persuades his peevish offspring, Cassie (Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque) and Carl (Josh Hutcherson), to climb aboard and then heads for the mountains of Colorado.

Anyone who’s subjected themselves and their kids to a road trip will likely relate to at least some of the poignant, if not painful, scenarios the Munros experience—-bored passengers, a lack of privacy and a wide range of musical interests.

They also find themselves continually running into a busload of overly friendly, laid-back travelers called the Gornickes. Travis (Jeff Daniels) and Marie Jo (Kristen Chenowith) live full time in their vehicle with their three, home-schooled children (Hunter Parrish, Chloe Sonnenfeld, Alex Ferris). But despite their welcoming overtures to Bob and his family, the uptight Munros remain offish toward their fellow trekkers. It’s only after Bob and Jamie experience one disaster after another that they start to appreciate what the Gornickes have.

Unfortunately many of those disastrous gags are likely to cause gagging themselves. Relying on bathroom language, potty jokes, fecal matter and an unsavory name for their home-on-wheels, the storyline, among other things, leaves Bob covered in sewage and later feigning diarrhea. The script also includes the frequent and casual use of terms of Christian deity along with some innuendo (mostly between married couples) and a few cases of disrespectful name-calling. In addition, Marie Jo’s tight tank tops leave little to the imagination.

Still, Bob, Jamie, Cassie and Carl make inroads when it comes to rekindling their family ties, even if it is a little rough at times. Bob also discovers that the lifestyle he is trying so hard to provide for his wife and kids is in large part responsible for their estrangement. As well, the clan finds out it takes some unplugging of the gadgets in order to plug into family activities.

Although the Munros manage to survive their trek, most audience members will be happy to experience this kind of bumpy road trip from their theater seats instead of the backbench of an RV.

Starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque Josh Hutchers. Theatrical release April 27, 2006. Updated

RV
Rating & Content Info

Why is RV rated PG? RV is rated PG by the MPAA for crude humor, innuendo and language.

Family life has some sore points for Bob Munro. Not only do his teenagers infringe on his intimate time with his wife, but they also resort to rude name-calling and condescending attitudes with their dad. A girl is accused of a rude hand gesture but nothing is seen. At a party, one teen throws pop into the face of an adult. Later a man feigns an attempt to hit a teenager with a car. After a hard day at work, a man requests a drink with Prozac. Men discuss chasing other men’s wives. Jokes in the film revolve around fecal matter, animal organs, mild sexual innuendo and prostitution as a profession. The script includes incidences of dangerous situations played for humor. The family narrowly misses a head-on collision with a semi truck. A man clings to the front of a rolling RV. Several characters fall down in a rushing stream. A man rides a bike downhill through a forest. A man roughly embraces another character. A character intentionally throws a man to the ground. In the film, several female characters expose their cleavage in tight tops. A man worries about his responsibilities and as a result, he is dishonest with others. Numerous terms of deity and some other profanities are used.

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RV Parents' Guide

How does Bob’s work affect his home life? What motivates him to do well at work? What sacrifices might a family need to make in order to have more time together?

What activities do you enjoy as a family?

What do the Munros think about the Gornickes when they first meet them? What assumptions do they make? How does their attitude change? Can first impressions sometimes be unfair?

Before your next road trip, check out this site for some fun travel tips:

MomsMiniVan.com

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Home Video

The most recent home video release of RV movie is August 14, 2006. Here are some details…

Take your family on vacation without ever leaving the family room with the DVD release of RV. The disc packs along plenty of extras, such as a director’s commentary, a gag reel, an alternate scene, and five featurettes (On set with director Barry Sonnenfeld , JoJo: The Pop Princess, RV Nation: The Culture of Road Warrior, Robin Williams: A Family Affair and The Scoop on Poop). For the more musically inclined, join in the RV Reveries where Carl, Cassie and Jamie sing. Those more technically inclined may enjoy Story-to-Film Comparisons for several scenes. Audio tracks are available in English and French (both 5.1 Dolby Digital), with subtitles in English and French.

Related home video titles:

Many of actors in this film appear in other family friendly films. Jeff Daniels stars as a Baptist minister whose daughter brings home a stray dog in Because of Winn Dixie. Joanna ‘JoJo’ Levesque plays one of two girls who discover a mermaid swimming in the resort pool in Aquamarine. Finally, in Zathura, Josh Hutcherson’s character is shot into space after he and his younger brother discover an old board game and start to play it.