Are We Done Yet

Are We Done Yet?
Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C. McGinley
Directed by Steve Carr
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2007
92 minutes

Are We Done Yet is a family movie  DVD which actually has some unpredictable moments and plot elements managing to please the little ones with the predictable comedic set pieces and still has some interesting story elements. Most modern viewers won’t be familiar with the Cary Grant / Myrna Loy classic Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House upon which this movie is based but it would be a good rental to pick up and watch just by way of comparison after you have seen Are We Done Yet. Are We Done Yet does not have the same caliber of acting, script or direction as the original but it is still worth a trip to the cinema.

This sequel to Are We There Yet picks up the threads of the original story with Nick Persons and his newly formed family with wife Suzanne and kids Lindsey and Kevin living in his tiny apartment. Nick has sold his sporting goods business and is trying to launch a sports magazine out of his apartment. It doesn’t take long for the comedy of errors which comprise his daily routine to eat away at him enough that he decides to pick up stakes and relocate to the countryside where even more mayhem ensues.

In all fairness to the writers and actors involved they had to walk a fine line between delivering the expected set pieces and writing something of interest. The reality is that what there is in terms of original story and original comedy sequences are very well done. Of special note is the excellent comic work of John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox on Scrubs) as Chuck Mitchell Jr. who wears so many hats in the movie that there could have been a movie just about his life.

Are We Done Yet is not going to become the classic that Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House has become but it is by no means a waste of time. It is an average family comedy DVD that is a welcome distraction from much of the fare that is littering the cinema’s these days.

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