College Road Trip DVD Review
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 07.20.2008
Getting there is actually half the fun for a change...
Starring
* Martin Lawrence as Chief James Porter
* Raven-Symoné as Melaine Porter
* Brenda Song as Nancy
* Eshaya Draper as Trey Porter
* Vincent Pastore as Freddy
* Margo Harshman as Katie
* Joseph R. Gannascoli as Mr. Arcarra
* Michael Landes as Donny
* Donny Osmond as Doug
Directed by:
* Roger Kumble
Written by:
* Emi Mochizuki
* Carrie Evans
Running Time: 84 minutes
Rated: G
Prior to reviewing this film, an informal survey of friends, co-workers, girlfriends, and family members reached the consensus that the lovely Raven-Symone is annoying. Personally, I find that a bit harsh, but hey I'm probably too distracted by her certain aspects of hers to notice.
Raven stars as Melanie Porter, a college bound woman that secretly wishes to apply to Georgetown, but has accepted the fact that she will more than likely attend North Eastern, the school her father, Chief James Porter (Martin Lawrence) has been preparing her for since she was an infant.
After a chance run in with the judge presiding over her mock trial, Melanie's dreams of attending Georgetown are rekindled. Secretly she and her mother (Kym Whitley) fill out the application forms and with the judge's recommendation, she is accepted. Her father is less than enthused about the whole situation and conveys it a typical fatherly overreaction.
Much to Melanie's dismay, he decides to personally escort her on Father/Daughter college road trip which includes a convenient detour to Northwestern. In a move that would make any wrestling promoter proud, Chief Porter has planted a couple of students to either persuade his daughter to come to Northwestern, or at the very least, dissuade her from going to Georgetown. In particular, I thought the anti-Georgetown student was hilarious with his cry of "They stabbed me in the eye at Georgetown!"
With his daughter still bound and determined to reach Georgetown by Monday, they head towards Grandma Porter's house where the plan is to spend the night before Melanie catches a flight to the school.
Of course problems arise when a flat tire strands them in the woods and reveals that younger child Trey Porter and his pig Albert, have stowed away leading to caffeinated pig shenanigans that ruin a wedding and get the Porters tossed from their hotel.
Fortunately for them Donny Osmond and his equal over exuberant musical daughter come to the rescue and they along with a group of karaoke-singing Japanese tourists (providing Ms. Symone with an opportunity to sing) manage to get the Porters to Grandma's house.
With less than a day before her interview, Melanie unwinds by visiting the local college with her friends. Chief Porter's over protectiveness gets the better of him and he breaks into the dorm room where she is because he is convinced there are boys there. This breach of trust is too much for Melanie and she disowns him.
After she misses her flight, they reconcile. Sky diving and grand theft golf cart ensue and they make it to Georgetown on time and all is resolved in classic Disney style.
As far as family friendly Martin Lawrence comedies go, this was pretty fun. I genuinely laughed several times and though we've seen the over protective father a million times throughout the history of Disney live action films, it was still touching and fit the story. I still think Martin is at his best opposite Will Smith, but hey, not a bad performance. Donny Osmond was great in his role and watching him beat the crap out of his future son-in-law is great. And no, I did not find Raven the least bit annoying in her role.
EXTRAS
We have a gag reel with a couple of funny moments with the cast. A few deleted scenes with optional commentary from director Roger Kumble. A video diary from Raven as well as her music video for "Double Dutch Bus." And last but not least, two audio commentaries - the first with the Roger and Raven and the second with the writers Emi Mochizuki and Carrie Evans. Fans of Raven will definitely love the music video and video diary.
The 411: It's the classic "let them leave the nest" tale that you've seen countless times before. It doesn't break any new ground, but the performances are decent to good. The pig did not annoy me at all, which is a first for me as I tend to hate kids and small animals more times than not. Plus, sometimes it's just nice to see some good wholesome comedy and I believe it achieves this.
