There are a few funny ideas, but overall it's silly, schmaltzy and sentimental, as father and daughter take a road trip and discover love, trust and letting go are paramount to their relationship
College Road Trip (2008)
Runtime: 83 mins
Synopsis: Directed by Roger Kumble (THE SWEETEST THING, JUST FRIENDS), the 2008 comedy COLLEGE ROAD TRIP stars Martin Lawrence as Chicago cop James Porter, an overprotective father who wants to keep his college-bound daughter, Melanie (Raven-Symone), close to home. When the smart, assertive... Directed by Roger Kumble (THE SWEETEST THING, JUST FRIENDS), the 2008 comedy COLLEGE ROAD TRIP stars Martin Lawrence as Chicago cop James Porter, an overprotective father who wants to keep his college-bound daughter, Melanie (Raven-Symone), close to home. When the smart, assertive Melanie declares her intention to attend Georgetown instead of Northwestern, James insistently sets out with her on a cross-country car journey to Washington D.C., hoping to dissuade her along the way. En route, of course, plenty of hijinks ensue, including scenarios involving a precocious pig and, oddly enough, Donny Osmond, who turns up as an eeriely cheery dad also on a college-touring campaign. With its broad, slapstick humor and enegetic leads, COLLEGE ROAD TRIP is a perfect vehicle for Lawrence and Raven, who both play to their well-established personas--the former a cranky bumbler, the latter a headstrong teen. Osmond, in his first film role in decades, ideally embodies Ned Flanders-like enthusiasm, stealing plenty of scenes with the aid of his equally giddy on-screen offspring (Molly Ephraim). Although it's far from high-minded cinema, TRIP is a fun, family-oriented road movie that easily appeals to a wide audience, and offers up many silly and appalling moments of parental embarrassment. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Raven-Symone, Martin Lawrence, Donny Osmond
Screenwriter: Emi Mochizuki, Carrie Evans, Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio
Producer: Andrew Gunn
Composer: Edward Shearmur
DVD Info
Release:
Mar 7, 2009
DVD Features:
- Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Uncompressed 48kHz/24-bit - English
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French
- Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Additional Footage - Raven's Video Diary
- Alternate Opening & Ending
- Audio Commentary - 1. Roger Kumble - Director; Raven Symone - Star
- 2. Emi Mochizuki - Screenwriter; Carrie Evans - Screenwriter
- Bloopers
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Raven-Symone
- Featurette - On the Set: Double Dutch Bus
- Music Video - Double Dutch Bus - Raven-Symone
Reviews
...precisely the sort of over-the-top and unapologetically silly endeavor one might've anticipated...
The trailer looks like absolute garbage, but the movie itself was a lot less painful than I thought. It's still not good, just mediocre.
One does not watch College Road Trip. One encounters it. Endures it. Accepts its challenge.
The intended show-stopper: a singalong of 'Double Dutch Bus' with a busload of Japanese tourists.
Undeniably fun for the kids, though it requires a camp sensibility in its adult audience. But in doing so, it is a warm return to the live-action Disney movies of yesteryear.
Somehow it took four writers to crank out what passes for a script...
James' outlandish ruses to make his firstborn a Wildcat are fun; the push-pull parent-child dynamic generic, but sweet. Bu the writers comedy failsafe is "Cut to the pig!"
The comedian Sinbad once said that Hollywood seeks out original talents but then tries to make them just like everyone else. A case in point is Martin Lawrence.
You know you're in trouble when a potbellied pig upstages the human actors.
National Lampoon's Vacation Light. They have some funny disasters on the road, nothing like dead relatives or incest, but it's light and fun.
An amiable father-daughter charmer that teeters into total eye-rolling slapstick.
There are only so many food fights, pig-hopped-up-on-caffeine gags, and brutal Raven-Symone improv that one person can take before madness sets in.
It's a dark day indeed when a movie's funniest moments involve Donny Osmond.
College Road Trip is the best Martin Lawrence/Raven-Symone/Donny Osmond vehicle ever made.
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