Are We There Yet? (2005/DVD-Video)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Film: C-

 

 

I always said that Ice Cube was underrated as an actor, but even doing a comedy as lite as Brian Levant’s Are We There Yet? (2005) was not what I had in mind.  He plays a guy who instantly is attracted to a sexy woman (Nia Long) who happens to have children.  Soon, they actually find themselves on a road trip and the results are as goofy as the situation itself.

 

Too bad the screenplay (with four writers?) is so broad (new boyfriend does not get along with kids) that this is much more like a TV sitcom with no point.  Though I was never offended, I was disappointed that this did not have more appeal than anything aimed at an audience beyond young children.  Johnson Family Vacation from the year before (reviewed elsewhere on this site) was better and seems more ambitious by comparison.  Though the cast is appealing, everything else is not.  Jay Mohr and Tracy Morgan also surface.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image may be “mastered in High Definition” but it looks like the cinematography by Thomas Ackerman, A.S.C., has been heavily color manipulated and the phony colors are only matched by the lack of detail and depth for picture problems.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 is no better, limited dialogue fidelity and mixed surrounds.  Extras include a deleted scene, bloopers, three featurettes, director’s commentary, storyboard comparisons, overly simple games and trailers for other Sony releases.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo