bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Mathew Scott

RV

Starring: Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels,  Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

The film: What to make of Robin Williams? He's made some  decent forays  into the dark side (2002's Insomnia, in particular) and he  still adds a pretty mean voice to  animated productions.  But when it comes to cartoon-free comedy, it seems  the chuckles have  run out.

RV is a case in point. Whereas once a director would have let Williams shift into overdrive, Barry Sonnenfeld  (Men in Black) seems unsure what to do with his star. The result leaves Williams floundering. Trying, as he always does, but floundering.

He plays a family man (right, with Cheryl Hines, Josh Hutcherson and Joanna Levesque) who tricks his clan into going cross-country in the recreational vehicle from which the film takes its title. The film beats a familiar path  too - but Chevy Chase  did it much better in the National Lampoon's Vacation series. We have  a family man out of his depth who  realises he should appreciate what he has, not what he covets. Oh, and there are a few too many scenes mentioning poo.

It doesn't help  that the script lacks any real charm - apart from Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth  as a pair of Partridge Family rejects. They steal every scene they're in. And Daniels belts out a pretty mean country tune.

Williams, in the meantime, seems trapped between  his two worlds. He's neither exploding into a constant laugh riot, nor trying to play it straight as a bumbler out of his depth. Even the scenes that are obviously ad-libbed seem tacked on - maybe they were, later, once the director realised he had a dud on his hands. And Sonnenfeld  seems to panic at times, the pace of the film quickening and then slowing  just when it seems ready to descend into pure farce.

It's obvious from early on that the whole thing is moving towards a message about the value of family. But by the time it clumsily comes around and bangs you on the head, you'll be long past the point of listening.

The extras: The director's commentary goes quiet a few too many times to keep you hooked. And the only decent revelation is that the film is semi-autobiographical. So there, that saves you  a  rerun. The featurettes  go overboard in paying tribute to the talents of Williams, Levesque and Sonnenfeld, and there's one about how they rigged the septic tank to explode  in one scene. The only bright spark is a short on the real world of RVs, in which we get to see more of Daniels and hear about his love of the road.

The verdict: The less said the better.

