 Barry Sonnenfeld's RV is another family vacation movie, with Robin Williams in the Chevy Chase role. It's the kind of film critics have difficulty getting a handle on. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Time doles out two stars to it and remarks, "There is nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend." He then makes the arguable comment that Williams demonstrates during "a few moments of relative gravity" that "he's more effective on the screen when he's serious than when he's trying to be funny." On the other hand, Kevin Krust in the Los Angeles Times complains that the film fails to exploit Williams's comedy talent. "Williams in a repressive role is not a pretty sight," he writes. "Flipping his and [Jeff] Daniels' parts might have added some laughs." And Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune adds, "Robin Williams is such a great comic virtuoso that it can almost hurt to see him straining to pump life into a conventional, uninspired, sometimes-goofy big-studio comedy such as RV." Kyle Smith in the New York Post gives the film a lukewarm review. "This is sharper stuff than the bunny-soft Cheaper By the Dozen movies," he writes, "and unlike Steve Martin, Williams doesn't mug too much." Philip Wuntch's review in the Dallas Morning News spills out at the same temperature: "The slapstick moments are completely predictable, but director Barry Sonnenfeld stages them with finesse. And some of the dialogue is sprightly and even witty." And Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution gives it this verdict: "An acceptable Big Dumb Summer Movie." |
