RV (film)

2006 film by Barry Sonnenfeld

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by| Geoff Rodkey
Produced by| Lucy Fisher
Douglas Wick
Starring|

* Robin Williams
* Jeff Daniels
* Cheryl Hines
* Kristin Chenoweth
* Joanna "JoJo" Levesque
* Josh Hutcherson

Cinematography| Fred Murphy
Edited by| Kevin Tent
Music by| James Newton Howard

Production
companies

* Columbia Pictures[1]
* Relativity Media[2]
* Intermedia[2]
* Red Wagon Entertainment[2]

Distributed by| Sony Pictures Releasing[1]

Release date

* April 28, 2006 (2006-04-28)

Running time

| 99 minutes
Countries|

* Germany[1]
* United States[1]

Language| English
Budget| $50 million[3]
Box office| $87.5 million[2][3]

RV (also known as RV - Runaway Vacation or Runaway Vacation) is a 2006 road comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, produced by Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick, written by Geoff Rodkey and starring Robin Williams, with Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth, Will Arnett, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, and Josh Hutcherson. It follows a beverage company executive and his dysfunctional family who rent an RV for a road trip from Los Angeles to the Colorado Rockies, where they ultimately have to contend with a bizarre community of campers.

The film was produced by Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media (as its first feature), Intermedia and Red Wagon Entertainment. It was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on April 28, 2006, and was negatively received by critics, but grossed $87.5 million worldwide against a $50 million budget.

## Plot

[edit]

Bob Munro, an executive at the large soda company Pure Vibe in Los Angeles, struggles with the whims of his self-absorbed boss Todd Mallory. His family — materialistic wife Jamie and their teenage children, sharp-tongued Cassie and self-confident Carl — are also demanding, and he had promised them a vacation in Hawaii. Todd seeks to acquire the Alpine Soda company in Boulder, Colorado, and threatens to fire Bob if he does not promote the takeover. Todd's demand forces the Munros to cancel their vacation. Bob, concealing the real reason for not going to Hawaii, rents an RV and tells his family that they are traveling to the Rockies; he plans to make a detour in Colorado to secretly attend the meeting in Boulder.

The trip is marked by numerous mishaps. Bob's inexperience in handling the large vehicle results in him colliding with various obstacles and damaging the parking brake. During a stopover in Nevada, he must fix an unsavory clog in the toilet tank. The family also fumigates the RV with stink bombs to drive out intrusive raccoons. During the trip, the Munros have several encounters with the Gornickes, a good-natured but exhausting family who live in their own RV.

As they approach Colorado, the Munros reconnect as a family and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings. Nearing Boulder, Bob fakes an upset stomach and sends the rest of the family on a hike before meeting with the Alpine Soda owners. The meeting is promising, but on the way back, Bob gets stuck in a traffic jam, forcing him to take the RV through a treacherous four-wheel-drive trail; at one point, the RV becomes high-centered on a boulder in the trial, which is the movie-poster's "extreme exaggeration" image depicts. With a badly battered vehicle, Bob returns to his unsuspecting family.

Todd calls Bob and demands that he return the next day to repeat the presentation to the entire Alpine Soda staff. However, the RV's parking brake fails again and sends it rolling into a mountain lake. Through a careless remark by Bob, the family surmises the reason for his secrecy and reproaches him. Bob explains that he fears for his job and the Munros' standard of living. Determined, he retrieves a bicycle from the sunken RV to make his way to the meeting. The Gornickes appear and pick up the Munros. Along the way, the families bond; Bob catches up to them, reconciling with everyone.

At the Alpine Soda headquarters, Bob steps in front of the workforce and pitches the takeover to them. Following an epiphany, however, he encourages their independence, aware that Todd would ruin the brand. In retaliation, Todd fires Bob. The Munros, on their way home in their sodden and battered RV, are stopped by a police officer on behalf of the Alpine Soda owners, who offer Bob a job overseeing their company's expansion. The RV's parking brake fails again, flattening the police car and the company owners' car.

## Cast

[edit]

* Robin Williams as Bob Munro, an executive at Pure Vibe
* Jeff Daniels as Travis Gornicke, the patriarch of the Gornicke family
* Cheryl Hines as Jamie Munro, Bob's wife
* Kristin Chenoweth as Mary Jo Gornicke, Travis's wife
* Joanna "JoJo" Levesque as Cassie Munro, Bob and Jamie's 15-year-old daughter
* Erika-Shaye Gair as 5-year-old Cassie Munro
* Josh Hutcherson as Carl Munro, Bob and Jamie's 12-year-old son
* Catherine Rose Young as baby Carl Munro (uncredited)
* Will Arnett as Todd Mallory, the CEO of Pure Vibe and Bob's self-absorbed boss
* Hunter Parrish as Earl Gornicke, Travis and Mary Jo's teenage son
* Chloe Sonnenfeld as Moon Gornicke, Travis and Mary Jo's 12-year-old daughter
* Alex Ferris as Billy Gornicke, Travis and Mary Jo's 9-year-old son
* Brendan Fletcher as Howie, an incompetent man who helps Bob with his RV's clogged bilge system
* Rob LaBelle as Larry Moiphine, the co-owner of Alpine Soda
* Brian Markinson as Garry Moiphine, the co-owner of Alpine Soda and Larry's brother
* Tony Hale as Frank, Bob's co-worker at Pure Vibe
* Brian Howe as Marty, a hitchhiking guitarist
* Richard Cox as Laird, a Pure Vibe worker who Todd is training to succeed Bob
* Veronika Sztopa as Gretchen, Cassie's militaristic friend
* Kirsten Alter as Tammy
* Matthew Gray Gubler as Joseph "Joe Joe", an incompetent man who helps Bob with his RV's clogged bilge system
* Stephen E. Miller as Organ Stew Guy
* Malcolm Scott as Kenny
* Deborah DeMille as an RV Dump Lady
* Chad Krowchuk as a Scruffy Teenager
* Ty Olsson as a Diablo Pass Officer
* Bruce McFee as Sam, a police officer at Independence Pass who is enlisted by the Gornickes to help catch up to the Munros
* Giacomo Baessato, Justin Chartier, and Andrew Botz as Hip Hop Wannabes who Bob catches picking on Carl
* Barry Sonnenfeld as Irv, a dodgy RV dealer
* Diane Michelle as the voice of the RV GPS (uncredited)

## Production

[edit]

The film began principal photography in the Vancouver area and southern Alberta on May 25, 2005, and finished filming the following August.

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The score was written by James Newton Howard and features several members of Lyle Lovett's band: Matt Rollings (keyboards), Russ Kunkel (drums), Ray Herndon (guitar), Viktor Krauss (bass) and Buck Reid (pedal steel). Alvin Chea, vocalist from Take 6, provided solo vocals. Additional music was provided by Stuart Michael Thomas and Blake Neely. Several songs were featured prominently in the film, including "GTO", "Route 66", "Cherry Bomb" and "Stand by Your Man".

## Release

[edit]

The film was theatrically released in North America on April 28, 2006, by Columbia Pictures, and was released on UMD, DVD and Blu-ray on August 15, 2006, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The film grossed $71.7 million in America and $15.8 million in other territories, for a total gross of $87.5 million, against a production budget of $50 million. In its opening weekend, it finished number one at the box office, with $16.4 million in 3,639 theaters.[3]

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23%, based on 121 reviews, and an average rating of 4.26/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An unoriginal and only occasionally funny family road-trip movie, RV is a mediocre effort that not even the charisma of Robin Williams can save."[4] On Metacritic, it has a score of 33 out of 100, based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "B+" on a scale of A+ to F.[6]

Justin Chang of Variety said, "RV works up an ingratiating sweetness that partially compensates for its blunt predictability and meager laughs."[7]

Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film two stars out of four. He wrote, "There is nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend."[8]

### Accolades

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Nominee  | Result

|
|
|

Golden Raspberry Award | Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment  | Won
Worst Supporting Actress | Kristin Chenoweth | Nominated
Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actor  | Josh Hutcherson | Nominated

## See also

[edit]

* The Long Long Trailer

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "RV (2006)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
2. ^ a b c d "R.V. (2006)". The Numbers. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
3. ^ a b c "RV (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
4. ^ "RV (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
5. ^ "RV Reviews". Metacritic.
6. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
7. ^ Chang, Justin (May 1, 2006). "Family vehicle runs on gentle humor". Variety. 402 (11). Reed Business Information: 30.
8. ^ Ebert, Roger (April 28, 2006). "RV review". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved July 11, 2010.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to RV (film).

* RV at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

* The Addams Family (1991)
* For Love or Money (1993)
* Addams Family Values (1993)
* Get Shorty (1995)
* Men in Black (1997)
* Wild Wild West (1999)
* Big Trouble (2002)
* Men in Black II (2002)
* RV (2006)
* Men in Black 3 (2012)
* Nine Lives (2016)

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