RV (2006)

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs
—5. Posters (Robin Williams)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

Special:
Faith in Hollywood: Up Close with Kristin Chenoweth

FREE DOWN LOAD
The RV Activity Book from the movie RV starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth , Bob McNeive
Click here (PDF)


I LOVED IT! Not only was RV a very funny movie, but it also had a very deep message for me. This is probably why I LOVED IT and I also hated it. Okay, I guess I have to explain this statement. But first let me tell you one reason I loved it. It was hilariously funny. Robin Williams was at his best. His movie family complimented his wit with their own comedic talent and the Gornicke family (more about them later) played a great straight man for the characters played by Williams’ and his movie family. Laughter constantly filled the theater and you just couldn’t help but roar at the various situations and the one-liners.

Why I hated it is going to have to wait a few minutes (but I promise it will be worth it). Let me go through an overview of the story, before I get into explaining the statement. Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is a hard working company man who, at 50, is threatened by the younger blood that Williams’ boss (a real jerk well played by Will Arnet) has brought into to evidently replace Williams. Williams’ family is a modern day, all too common, group of individuals who have grown apart over time. The 12 year son, played by Josh Hutcherson, is isolated spending his time body building (to compensate for his small stature) and acts all “down with it�, which doesn’t quite go with his upper middle class California upbringing. The 15 year old daughter Cassie (played by singer Joanna “JoJo� Levesque) pretty much thinks her father, Williams, is the biggest jerk in the world and you can only imagine that she can’t wait to get out of high school and away from the family. Williams’ wife, Jamie, played by Cheryl Hines, doesn’t really demonstrate any character flaws other than as a member of the family -- they are all, as Williams says, most of the family’s time at home is spent off in four different parts of the house watching four different TVs.

To “save� his job, Williams must come up with an excuse why he can’t take the family on vacation to Hawaii, as planned (and can’t go another time during the Summer because the kids are off to camp in Alaska or other ventures), but must instead go to Colorado via a rented RV. So naturally he is afraid to tell his wife or kids and just lies to them, telling them he wants them all to get together and spend time as a family. The truth being that he wants to work on a presentation and then somehow, when they reach Colorado, give the presentation and keep his job. He doesn’t believe that they will support him, so he must lie. As you can imagine, nothing works as planned, except that the lie, the family bonding, starts to become a reality.

Along the way the Williams and family meet another roving RV family, the Gornicke’s. And in contrast to Williams’ family, the Gornicke’s are so sweet they are dripping with honey. They are “overly� friendly. The husband and wife are as close as you can get, the kids love the parents, and they come across as about as nerdy as you can get. Living in their RV and traveling the country, the kids are home-schooled by the busty blond mom (Mary Jo Gornicke played by Kristin Chenoweth) and the dad, Travis (played superbly by Jeff Daniels) who you figure is just got to be a good ole boy from the backwoods. Not to spoil it, but you can’t tell a book by the cover -- or a family by the fact that they live in a RV. The problem with the Gornicke’s is not that they aren’t nice. The problem is that they are toooooooo nice. They are the type of people you just want to strangle at first. But this is more the problem of people like me, not people that are like the Gornicke’s – they have their act together and have no problem with priorities (unlike some people I know – hint-hint, I mean me).

So you have the jest of the movie. An extremely (but all too common) dysfunctional family stuck in an RV for several days and who are constantly confronted with the other side of family life (the Gornicke’s). So now I can explain more about why I hated the movie. The movie had a GREAT message. It really showed what family was supposed to be about, many times by demonstrating what it shouldn’t be. It also showed that underneath the charade we act out for the world and the self imposed isolation that many of us enforce on ourselves and those around us, that what most of us want is to be loved and part of something bigger than ourselves – and what most of us don’t realize is that our own family is the easiest “bigger� thing we can be part of.

Even though just watching Bob and family you have no problem understanding their problems, the film uses the Gornicke’s to provide a startling contrast in family dynamics. Like I said before, at first you want to strangle the Gornicke’s, but by the end of movie you understand that Bob’s family’s real problem with the Gornicke’s is probably driven by jealousy. You are able to see past the “nerdiness� and see true love and devotion.

So if it was unbelievably funny and had a great message, then why did I hate it? Well, I hated it because I was Williams (but not nearly as funny). I can’t remember a time when I laughed so much and at the same time felt more convicted of my own behavior. I was Williams at the beginning of the movie. I am all about trying to “do� things. I saw him so worried about the material things in life that he would lie to his family and try to “control� everything around him – and I sat there saying “OUCH!� I can relate. And he always had the excuse that he was getting these things for his family – the camp in Alaska, the beautiful home for his wife (who he refers to as the “princess� at one point – and not in a good way). While spewing one-liners I watched Williams lie and connive and use his family as the rationale for what he did. I have come to understand, which is one of the reasons I love Robin Williams, that he has many layers to his performances and the characters he portrays. With Bob, he brings alive a character who is simultaneously funny and a poignant representative (sad to say) of modern father and husband.

My daughter complains that I am always on my laptop (writing, well, Movie Reviews or working on my website or catching up on e-mails and “work�). More often than not she will ask me a question and I will go “huh� and ask her to repeat. She has pretty much given up and just says “forget it�. She has told me on numerous occasions that I should go get my hearing checked. The problem is that I have and my hearing is fine. It is just that I don’t pay attend. My focus is not on what she is saying, but on all the “other� things. My wife jokes about the fact that I disappear into my “cave� the moment I walk through the door. Though I don’t think she is joking in reality. The greatest gift I gave her was the one time we went on vacation and didn’t bring my laptop – thank goodness for Blackberrys.

This is my life, Bob Munro. A self made Bob Munro. This is why I hated the movie. Because I saw myself as Bob Munro, or at least as he was through most of the film. The challenge that I have given myself is, can I be like Bob at the end of the movie. Do I have the strength and courage to change? Is Bob’s transformation, as his wife says a glimpse of the way they (Bob and her) use to be – HAPPY -- just a fairytale out of a movie, or is there a chance that it can be real. So there you have it -- I am Bob Munro. And I hate being Bob. So that is why I hate the film. Not that the movie was bad, but that it reflected my own character flaws. My own inability to understand where my real priorities lie. Okay, I have put it in writing. I have admitted it. So what can I do about it? I just saw the film while on business travel and will be going home tomorrow. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I am so glad that I saw the film. It gave me a couple of hours of plain old fun, and did what a really good movie should do – made me look at myself or the world around me. And as ugly, and as hard as that was, I am so glad that I saw it.

I highly recommend this film to virtually anyone, but I especially suggest you gather up the family (and that includes you teens dragging your parents along if they won’t go willingly), no matter if you are dripping with sweets like the Gornicke’s or even mildly dysfunctional like Bob and his family, and head to the theater as soon as you can. It will be more than worth the price of admission. And if you are lucky – maybe you will hate it also.

— Overview