Cedric's too much of a spare tire on this farcical road trip
Johnson Family Vacation is a hugely effective feature-length infomercial for that supersize SUV, the Lincoln Navigator. But as a vehicle for funnyman Cedric the Entertainer, this family comedy never gets off the showroom floor.I enjoy the outspoken Cedric in the Barbershop films, where he slings and stings and zings. An aggressive Cedric is a funny Cedric. But here, as a harried Dad herding his kids and (estranged) wife from California to Missouri for the clan's annual confab, he pulls his punch lines. Like a dartboard for hornets, he gets slung and stung and zung to the point of total deflation.
Johnson Family Vacation is a hugely effective feature-length infomercial for that supersize SUV, the Lincoln Navigator. But as a vehicle for funnyman Cedric the Entertainer, this family comedy never gets off the showroom floor.
I enjoy the outspoken Cedric in the Barbershop films, where he slings and stings and zings. An aggressive Cedric is a funny Cedric. But here, as a harried Dad herding his kids and (estranged) wife from California to Missouri for the clan's annual confab, he pulls his punch lines. Like a dartboard for hornets, he gets slung and stung and zung to the point of total deflation.
A passive Cedric is not a funny Cedric, even when his aggressors include Bow Wow (who's outgrown the Lil' sobriquet); Beyoncé's kid sis, Solange Knowles; and Vanessa Williams, so blindingly lovely you need sunglasses just to admire her.
The Johnsons are a house divided, maritally, musically and morally. Nate (Cedric) doesn't want Dorothy (Williams) to pursue a career as an accountant because he thinks a working wife reflects poorly on him as a breadwinner. He favors old-school R&B (and insists on an eight-track deck in his SUV), which grates the ears of his rap-happy son, D.J. (Bow Wow). Then there's the problems of his teenage daughter, Nikki (Knowles), a jailbaiter, and the littlest Johnson, Destiny (Gabby Soleil), who speaks to an invisible dog.
Such tensions do not bode well for a cross-country trip. The atmosphere in the SUV is like Thanksgiving dinner after the offended relative says, "What did you mean by that?" But the Johnsons have to play "We Are Family" nonetheless, with Nate needing to prove to his mother and his psychotically competitive brother (Steve Harvey) that the California Johnsons are together in every sense of the word.
Apart from Williams' presence, director Christopher Erskin's feature debut isn't worth the price of submission. It's not a road trip; it's a road trap.
Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.
Movie Review
Johnson Family Vacation
* 1/2 (out of four stars)
Produced by Paul Hall, Eric C. Rhone, Cedric the Entertainer and Wendy Park; directed by Christopher Erskin; written by Earl Richey Jones and Todd R. Jones; photography by Shawn Maurer; music by Richard Gibbs, distributed by Fox Searchlight.
Running time: 1 hour, 35 mins.
Nate Johnson. . . Cedric the Entertainer
Dorothy Johnson. . . Vanessa Williams
Nikki Johnson. . . Solange Knowles
D.J. Johnson. . . Bow Wow
Mack Johnson. . . Steve Harvey
Parent's guide: PG-13 (sexual candor, profanity)
Showing at: area theaters