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Are We Done Yet? DVD Review

by Kam Williams

DVD Features Ice Cube and Company in Slap-Happy Sequel

Are We There Yet? (2005) was less a road comedy than a shameless, ninety-minute car commercial. Fortunately, the sequel doesn't revolve around an automobile. In fact, nothing about this movie resembles the first, except for the presence of the same four principals in the cast.

Ice Cube is back as Nick Persons, and he's now married to Nia Long's character, Suzanne, who is pregnant and expecting twins. He's also adopted her two kids, Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and Kevin (Philip Bolden), the two misbehaving little monsters who'd previously made his life miserable.

This time, though, Suzanne and the children are given little to do besides dropping their jaws in wide-eyed reaction shots. For this flick features Nick's frustrations with their new country home and his strained relationship with Chuck (John C. McGinley), the slippery realtor who talked him into buying the fixer-upper secretly in need of wholesale renovations.

The film is actually a remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), a romp starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. And while Ice Cube's acting has certainly improved with age, it is unfair to expect the affable rapper to measure up favorably to a renowned thespian like Grant.

That being said, this picture is stolen by Mr. McGinley, a perennial second banana who makes the most of an opportunity as a jack-of-all-trades who, soon after selling the property to the Persons, returns not only as a contractor, but as the city inspector, a Lamaze counselor, an herbalist, a baby whisperer and a midwife. Though it's Chuck who most infuriates Nick, this flick is mostly about black folks having a hard time adjusting to nature. Nick is never allowed a peaceful moment, being disturbed by a raccoon, a deer, a sturgeon and a hawk.

Besides anthropomorphic animal fare, Are We Done Yet? is filled with stale and predictable sight gags, fart jokes, and slap-happy slapstick

Yeah, we're done.

Fair (1.5 stars)
Rated PG for sexual innuendo and mild epithets.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Blooper reel, kid's quiz, "The Making of" plus another featurette.

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com