Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

RV Blu-ray Movie Review

This bland family Comedy shines on Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 21, 2009

If you really want to find out about yourself, put your family in an RV and drive.

There cannot be many family-oriented movies more nondescript than RV. Here's a Comedy that lacks laughs, originality, and most importantly, heart. RV never attempts to rise above formula, playing as no more self-important than any other garden-variety movie of this sort, like Daddy Day Camp or The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, at least until the end. That's one of its primary problems -- a lack of originality. Not only does it center around a tired plot and lame jokes, but it recycles the same material over and over throughout the movie, sucking any life out of the idea no more than 20 or 30 minutes in. The film offers a plot ripe for novelty; instead, the movie plays out as something of a mixture of College Road Trip and Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling, neither exactly the kind of movie worthy of such a close association.

That's good advice for this Blu-ray.

Businessman Bob Munro (Robin Williams, August Rush) has plans to take his family on vacation to Hawaii. When an out-of-town business deal suddenly requires his personal attention, he is forced to cancel the trip, much to the disappointment of his wife and two kids. In response, he takes the initiative and rents an RV, surprising the family with a last-minute trip to Colorado where he will seal the business deal without telling his family the true reason for the trip. Of course, none of the family is at all thrilled with the idea, but they go along to placate their well-to-do but out-of-touch-with-reality father. Surprise, surprise, the trip sees one mishap after another. The brakes on the RV give out, a wild animal infiltrates the vehicle, and the Munro's cannot seem to shake an overly cheery family that lives in their RV. Bob must juggle the myriad of problems, his family's displeasure with the trip, and his inability to complete his work as his deadline quickly approaches.

RV begins interestingly and intriguingly enough, but it quickly fades into oblivion. After a while, jokes start to roll the eyes rather than tickle the funny bone; characters go from semi-interesting to predictable stereotypes; and the pace makes a farm tractor hurtling down the road at 12 miles per hour look like a speeding locomotive. Some of the primary jokes in the film come in the form of Bob's battle with the RV's septic system, his epic confrontation with raccoons, the RV's brake problems, the family's avoidance of an obnoxious RV clan, and Bob's clandestine attempts to write a proposal for work. Sadly, each joke is either overextended in length or played again and again, resulting in a bore of a movie that even Robin Williams cannot save. The comedian phones in his performance, doing little but going with the flow, but who can blame him? With all the other problems inherent to the film, his performance is the least of all concerns. Finally, RV's convenient ending tries to tie the adventure together with a series of life lessons that bring the family closer, but it flops. It's stale and predictable, an attempt to add meaning to a meaningless movie that would have played better had it been more honest and simply offered a series of vignettes around the misadventures of the family's vacation rather digging too deeply for some kind of truism to define the experience. Then again, RV is a no harm, no foul sort of movie; it will never be more than a footnote in Robin William's career, so any direction it takes means little at the end of the day.

RV Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

RV pulls onto Blu-ray with nice looking 1080p, MPEG-2 encoded transfer framed inside a 2.35:1 window. Flesh tones occasionally veer towards the redder side of the road and some colors take on a warm appearance, but otherwise, the transfer is sufficiently impressive. The film features a myriad of colors, from clothing to those found in many of the nicely-appointed interiors of homes, offices, and of course, the RV. Likewise, the film's plentiful and bright outdoor shots tend to sparkle, showcasing plenty of greenery in the surroundings. Detail and clarity border on the exceptional throughout; viewers will see the texture of the highway, fine details in faces, and discover every corner of the RV. Combined with a steady yet not overly heavy amount of grain, RV sports a rather pleasing theatrical look about it and offers a better-than-expected Blu-ray transfer.

RV Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

RV revs its engine and produces enough horsepower to feature a surprisingly robust PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack. Bass plays a major factor throughout the movie. It rumbles realistically under the heavy beats of Bob's son's stereo that can be heard throughout the Munro household. A sequence in chapter two as the RV seemingly runs over half the neighborhood in Bob's attempt to become comfortable behind the wheel sends heavy crashes and generally powerful lows pouring out of most every speaker. The aggressive bass continues throughout the movie to fine effect. The film's Country-Western theme music plays with particularly fine clarity across the soundstage. Sound effects are plenty and clear, distinct around the soundstage and natural in presentation. Be they the rattling of metallic cookware or the rumbling of the RV down the road, the track delivers on all fronts. Dialogue is slightly muddled at times, one of the only drawbacks to an otherwise fine soundtrack.

RV Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

RV cruises onto Blu-ray with several bonus features. First up is a "telestrator" commentary track with Director Barry Sonnenfeld. As he comments about the movie, sharing behind-the-scenes tidbits on how the film was made and discussing the professionalism and qualities of his cast, drawings appear on the screen to reinforce some of the points he makes. This style of commentary is also available on another of Sonnenfeld's movies on Blu-ray, Men in Black. Five featurettes represent the only other extras on the disc. Barry Sonnenfeld: The Kosher Cowboy (1080p, 9:14) features the cast and crew patting their director on the back and discussing his unique approach to filmmaking. JoJo: The Pop Princess (1080p, 4:55) looks at the style and performance of actress and pop star JoJo Levesque. RV Nation: The Culture of Road Warriors (1080p, 11:34) features the cast and crew discussing life in a recreational vehicle. Robin Williams: A Family Affair (1080p, 5:15) examines the contributions and comedic style of the film's star. Finally, The Scoop on Poop (1080p, 3:49) looks at the film's "fecal matter" joke.

RV Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

RV is harmless entertainment, but it's entertainment that doesn't really entertain. The pacing is sluggish, the jokes mostly unfunny, and the material stale and no better or no worse than the plethora of poorly-scripted family Comedies of recent vintage. Robin Williams delivers an uninspired performance that is never an embarrassment but never challenges the actor, either. There are far worse movies out there, particularly within its own genre, but few are as mundane and forgettable as RV. Sony brought RV to the Blu-ray market early in the life cycle of the format, and its presentation holds up nicely even today. The image is sharp and stable and the sound is surprisingly robust. Sony has included a few bonus materials to boot. RV isn't a movie to completely avoid, but it's only worth a rental when the family has exhausted most other options suitable for movie night.