Ice Cube goes cross-country with a couple of brats in family comedy Are We There Yet? Critics were appalled by this "mean-spirited farce" from director Bryan Levant who previously stunk up the screen with the likes of Problem Child 2, Jingle All The Way and The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas. Still, half-term audiences lapped it up to the tune of around $85m at the worldwide box office.
Road Trippin'
As well as starring in the film, Ice Cube produced it under his Cube Vision banner. In a studio-slick behind-the-scenes featurette he states, "Our specialty is rough-edged comedy," and Levant seems to echo this, saying, "I believe that filmmaking is a full contact sport." But in contrast to the knockabout comedy shtick, the director refers to the casting of Nia Long (playing Cube's love interest) as providing a "strong emotional base" to the story. Frankly this sounds like an afterthought when you consider that she only spends a limited time on screen.
Most likely to skim over the heads of UK viewers is A Tour Of Nick's Fine Sports Collectibles where Levant rifles through prized American artefacts like the original football helmet worn by Emlen Tunnell. Apparently he was the first black player for the New York Giants in the early 50s, but we'll just have to take Levant's word for that.
A Long And Winding Road
Levant talks a mile a minute but manages to say very little in his feature commentary. Between gushing over the actors, he drops in a few vaguely interesting titbits like the fact that Jay Mohr does a mean impression of Christopher Walken. Regarding matters relevant to the production, he mentions that the train yard scene was inspired by silent screen legend Buster Keaton and also talks briefly about the process of rewrites. These were intended to give the story "more heart", but whether they succeeded or not is a matter of opinion.
There's only one deleted scene where Cube packs the kids into his brand new car. It's neither very funny nor very revealing, which is probably why it was cut. Elsewhere there are three scene-to-storyboard comparisons, including the train yard scene and Kevin (Philip Bolden) vomiting on the dashboard. (Nice.) A couple of tedious DVD-ROM games fill out the package along with a routine blooper reel exposing Cube's lack of prowess on the basketball court.
If you're planning a cross-country trip and need a way to keep the kids quiet, this DVD will probably send them right off to sleep.
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