Written by: Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

It's "National Lampoon's Vacation" movie re-visited with a different title and different star.

Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is a highly-paid executive at the Pure Vibe soda company in Los Angeles who has managed to give his family a comfortable life in Pasadena but little quality time. "We watch TV in separate rooms and IM each other when dinner's ready," he moans.

So when his boss (Will Arnett) orders him to cancel their eagerly anticipated tropical Hawaiian vacation in order to seal a merger deal in Boulder, Colorado, Bob impulsively rents a huge, green RV and insists that the togetherness of a Rocky Mountain road trip is the bonding that the family needs. His enthusiasm is not shared by his yuppie wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), petulant vegetarian daughter (teen pop star Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) and puny, wannabe weight-lifter son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) but off they go. While Bob attempts to learn the intricacies of the RV's septic tank, they encounter an aggressively gregarious Southern couple, the Gornickes (Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth), and their children (Hunter Parish, Chloe Sonnenfeld, Alex Ferris) whose unpretentious homespun appeal steals the picture right from the resentful Munros.

While director Barry Sonnenfeld ("Men in Black") and writer Geoff Rodkey ("The Shaggy Dog") delve into all the possible permutations and exaggerations of recreational vehicle catastrophes, including raccoons in the oven, their real objective is healing dysfunctional relationships, particularly since Bob has never revealed the real reason for the trip. Unfortunately, although Robin Williams is always amiable and amusing, none of this is original so, in essence, it feels like a re-tread.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, RV is a cheery yet repetitive 5, a road trip filled with speed bumps.