Johnson Family Vacation (2004)

User Rating:

3.8/10   

Director:

Christopher Erskin

Writers (WGA):

Todd R. Jones (written by) &
Earl Richey Jones (written by)

Release Date:

7 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Wrong turn in Arizona. No brakes in Colorado. Arrested in Kansas. It's the ultimate family trip.

Plot:

AAA can't help the roadside emergency that is the JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION. Even the on-board navigation...

Plot Keywords:

Truck | Los Angeles | Competition | Hot Tub | Family Reunion

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Cedric the Entertainer	...	Nate Johnson / Uncle Earl
Vanessa Williams	...	Dorothy Johnson
Solange Knowles	...	Nikki Johnson
Bow Wow	...	D.J. Johnson
Gabby Soleil	...	Destiny Johnson
Shannon Elizabeth	...	Chrishelle Rene Boudreau
Steve Harvey	...	Mack Johnson
Aloma Wright	...	Glorietta Johnson
Shari Headley	...	Jacqueline
Jennifer Freeman	...	Jill
Philip Bolden	...	Mack Jr. (as Philip Daniel Bolden)
Rodney Perry	...	Cousin Lump (as Rodney B. Perry)
Christopher B. Duncan	...	Stan
Lorna Scott	...	Gladys
Kevin P. Farley	...	Stall Guy (as Kevin Farley)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references, crude humor and brief drug material.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40571) | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Canada:PG | Finland:K-7 | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: In the sack race scene, the "Lakers" logo on the back of DJ's jacket is backward.

Quotes:

Glorietta Johnson: We gon' let Mack and Nate pray, uh see which one of 'em was paying more attention in sunday school
Mack Johnson: well, well i guess since i'm the oldest i go first
Nate Johnson: fine, alright everyone uh, bow your heads and close your ears
Mack Johnson: yo eyes, err'ybody close yo eyes, Gracious God, I come to you as humbly as i know how, Praising you and giving you thanks, for bringing us together yet another year,helpin us come together to help celebrate my victory, and Nate's agony of defeat, let us eat
Nate Johnson: Father God we thank you for allowing us to come together and share with one another, Father we know that you created the birds that fly and gave the dog the voice to bark
[arrf, Nate barks]
Nate Johnson: , But you wouldn't have to create the sun if you knew that Mack was gon' be sittin over there in that bright yellow shirt lookin all sunny side up like a rootie tootie, fresh and fruity
Mack Johnson: Oh Lord, Lord, Lord, We Father God, also realize that you are the creator of earth and heaven, moon and the stars, dats how I know ain't no way you had nuttin to do with creating that tacky, gangsta lookin wheel spinning SUV, that uncle Earl had to drag outta here
Nate Johnson: [interrupting Mack] hol' hol' hold on Father, Hold up wait a minute, what about the time you put the pepto bismol in the cool aid, and errybody had diorrhoea for the summer, don't let me have to mention that to momma
Mack Johnson: [interrrupting Nate] hold' on, what about the time that you burned down all the bushes round the house, cuz you got tired of goin outside and gettin yo own switch
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Vacation (1983)

Soundtrack:

Let's Party

Cedric is good but the material is weak and the plot development simply lazy

It is an annual event in the wider Johnson clan to get together for a reunion of food, song and competition – a competition that is always won by Mack Johnson. Despite being separated from his wife, Nate Johnson gets his family together to attend as usual and keep up appearances. With a brand new Navigator truck and a tight time scale, the family of five set out on their road trip only to find themselves having to deal with cement, police, alligators and hitchhikers – and that's all before they get to the reunion.

I generally avoid all-black comedies; not because I am racist but because the opposite is true – and I find that many of these modern blaxploitation comedies are full of racist stereotypes and broad ethnic caricatures. With this film screening on a flight I was on I decided to watch it as I find it very difficult to sleep on planes. I was pleased to find that the film didn't base itself on racist stereotypes and the like and instead went for the more race-neutral approach of road movie broad gags a la Vacation. This is not to say that it is funnier – only easier to watch because it is less offensive to me personally. The plot is very simple but it makes the mistake of not staying simple – instead it adds subplots of separation and treats them seriously. This is a problem because it rounds them off in glib, unconvincing ways that make a joke out of ever having them in the first place – the whole issue of Nate and Dorothy working things out is a perfect example, the supposed focal point of the family contest is another one – it feels tacked on.

The film is not anywhere near as funny as it needed to be to be a good comedy. It has the odd laugh but generally the humour is so very broad and uninspired that it is hard to do anything but raise the occasional smile. Part of the reason it is even slightly funny is due to the good work from Cedric the Entertainer. He isn't great here but he does manage to get laughs from the poor material he is given to deliver. Bow Wow is hardly much of a draw but aside from being an annoying rapper cliché in the making, he does do well alongside Cedric. Williams is an OK actress but here she has nothing to do – she has no laughs and she is betrayed by the script when it comes to the serious side of the film. Knowles looks sexy but that's it – nothing more than that; likewise Soleil is a 'cute kid' and nothing more. Harvey is so poor that I actually wondered if he was the reason that the whole 'family contest' thing was pushed into such a small part of the film.

Overall this is a very average film at best. The plot is terrible at points and just annoyed me in the way that it seemed to just write-off the entire affair in the final section. The laughs come mainly from Cedric who does OK considering the very broad material he has to work with (and with little support from his co-stars). It's good that it more or less avoid the lazy racist stereotyping inherent in the 'black comedy' genre but it would have been nice if they'd replaced it with something worthwhile.