It's been far too long since Robin Williams did a comedy as unabashedly silly as RV.
Williams is one of the funniest people on the planet, yet he seeks out such dark material.
Discounting his 2002 misfire Death to Smoochy, the only flashes of his comic brilliance these last five years have been through the animated character he played in Robots.
Granted, it's difficult to find a live-action version of the genie he played in Aladdin, but that's what his writers and managers should be devising.
He is promising a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire and a multiple-personality comedy called The Krazees, but until then, we can gladly settle for a screwball vacation with Williams in RV.
Written by Geoff Radkey, who wrote The Shaggy Dog for Tim Allen and Daddy Day Care for Eddie Murphy, RV casts Williams as Bob Munro, an underappreciated marketing manager at a soft drink company.
For some reason, Bob substitutes an RV vacation for the family's annual Hawaii jaunt.
His wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines), daughter Cassie (Joanna Levesque) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) are horrified at the prospect of a road trip in the monstrosity dad rents. But Nothing can prepare them for what actually happens.
Thankfully, Radkey gets the sewage joke out of the way early so that he can create funnier catastrophes with raccoons, flash rain storms and the most annoying of fellow RVers, the Gornicke family.
Papa Travis Gornicke (Jeff Daniels) is a big, old cowpoke and his busty wife, Marie Jo (Kristin Chenoweth), is just the sweetest little country gal.
Daniels and Chenoweth take great pleasure in playing the kind of overly friendly folk you'd do anything to avoid, which is essentially what Bob and Jamie attempt.
But like bad colds, they keeping popping up in the Munros' life, bringing great knee-slapping laughs.
As funny and talented as the supporting cast may be, this is Williams's movie and he doesn't just run with it a bit. He makes it a laugh marathon.
Even when he's dead-panning jokes,Williams is hysterical, but when he goes off on a verbal tangent, protect your ribs and funny bone.
RV is an unsubtle clone of the old Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation movies, but that's not a bad thing.
Christmas Vacation is still a classic screwball comedy and what that squirrel in the Christmas tree did for Chevy the RV invading raccoons do for Williams. In RV, he's found an ideal vehicle.
(This film is rated PG)
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