"Is it over yet?"
Written: Aug 30 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Physical Humor
Cons: Cliche to "The Money Pit" (1986)
The Bottom Line: In the spirit of Tom Hank's The Money Pit, this film relies on Physical humor to carry it through. It was predictable and uninteresting.
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| xenoranger's Full Review: Are We Done Yet? |
So, in the first film, “Are We There Yet,” Nick (Ice Cube) takes a chance and attempts to date a woman with kids. As luck would have it, they end up falling for each other and getting married. Are We Done Yet is the continuation of this story.
The Parsons family can no longer be contained in Nick's small apartment. When Suzanne (Nia Long) tells Nick that she's pregnant, the decision is final, and the family must move out. Finding a nice home in the country, Nick and Suzanne decide to settle in. When the local Realtor, Chuck (John C. McGinley) closes the sale, things start falling apart, thus, Nick becomes Mr. Fix-It. From this point, you spend the rest of the film watching the house fall apart and Nick having to shell out more and more money to repair what was wrong from the start.
That's the story in a nutshell. The film reminds me of the 1986 film, The Money Pit. The more that gets fixed, the more that seems to go wrong. To make matters worse, Nick is also playing step-father to Suzanne's kids, Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and Kevin (Philip Daniel Bolden). The entire time the house is under construction, they're complaining and asking that cliché question, “are we done yet?” Meanwhile, Chuck is playing the imposing outsider that shakes the family up.
There's a few stereotypes in this film that are put together yet somehow work. First, there's the bad sale motif. The house continues to seem like a curse to Nick, yet he pours more and more money into it. The imposing outsider comes in the form of Chuck, who's worked his way into the family, but Nick's the only one who sees it. Then there's the annoying children theme. This rears its head as the kids keep complaining about all the actions Nick is taking that they don't approve of. The combination of these three styles help add humor to this film.
What I enjoyed about the film was the physical humor. There's something about watching a grown man fall in a lake that's humorous. The problem is that the film relied too much on physical humor to provide much more. Like the Three Stooges, there's a point where the same routine just isn't as funny anymore. As such, I can only see Ice Cube fall in the lake so many times before it's no longer funny. This removes some of the replay value in this film. There was a classic reference to “Are We There Yet” where Ice Cube was in the forest, saw a deer, then ran scared. If you've seen the first film, this will make sense, otherwise it's an obscure reference that'll be missed by most.
What I didn't like about the film is how the kids were permitted to insult and tease Nick, relentlessly, and not come under any consequences.
Pretty much, this film is all about the situational humor and physical comedy. If you're a fan of both, you might find this story amusing. Pretty much, when I saw the cartoon opening, I was reminded of the Money Pit, and had a feeling that this film would only differ by throwing children into the mix. To be honest, that's all “Are We Done Yet” managed to do. Because of this, I can't recommend this film.
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Good for Kids
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Everything
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Epinions.com ID:
xenoranger
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Location: MN, USA
Reviews written: 351
Trusted by: 21 members
About Me:
Even the things I really enjoy deserve low ratings at times.
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