Amazon.com
Ice Cube has turned his frown upside down with the family-friendly screwball road movie
Are We There Yet? We know the actor/rapper can use his trademark scowl to be funny (the
Friday and
Barbershop series), or to be mean (
Boyz n the Hood)--but can he use it to melt kids' hearts? That's the question
Are We There Yet? answers with a resounding yes for youngsters in the audience (which will be the lions' share), but it'll probably be an emphatic shrug for the grownups. The contrived plot has Cube playing a wannabe-player (as in ladies' man) and ex-player (as in washed-up minor league baseball star) who now owns a sports memorabilia business. His partner, (Jay Mohr) is just a throwaway, as is the talented Nia Long, the single mom that Cube sets his blinged-out sights on. To try get in her good graces, he offers to transport her two bratty kids in his pride-and-joy Lincoln Navigator for a joy ride to a distant city where she's attending an emergency business meeting so they can have a New Year's Eve celebration together. This kiddies' version of
Road Trip and
Planes, Trains and Automobiles has its cute moments, but plenty more gross-out moments which will please the kids to no end, especially as the Navigator gets more and more trashed. Suffice it to say they all learn about each others' good sides and hearts are suitably melted all around--until after the credits roll, then you'll probably forget about the whole thing.
--Ted Fry, Amazon.com
Synopsis
Ice Cube stars in this highly entertaining family comedy as Nick Persons, a thirtysomething player with a new Lincoln Navigator, who checks out every fine lady that passes by the window of the sports collectibles store where he works with pal Marty (Jay Mohr). Decked out in all the latest bling, Nick confidently approaches his latest attraction, Suzanne, only to learn that she is a recent divorcee with two kids. Little does he know, Suzanne's children are no ordinary kids. Lindsey and Kevin (Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden) go to extremes to keep their mother single. Putting his dislike for children on the back burner, Nick decides to pursue Suzanne anyway. He soon realises though, that the only way to a single mother's heart is through her children. So when Suzanne needs a babysitter to transport her kids from Portland to Vancouver, Nick jumps at the chance. Getting more than he bargained for, Nick must survive 24 hours with two kids bent on destroying him, not to mention missed flights, missed trains, run-ins with wildlife and crazed truckers, and severe car trouble. Nick challenges himself to survive the journey better than his SUV, and learns that while trying to prove himself to Suzanne, he also impresses himself. Demonstrating his softer side, rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube (FRIDAY, BARBERSHOP) shows a flair for slapstick humour in this pleasing family picture. While humorous moments abound, ARE WE THERE YET