Are We There Yet? review

A family comedy that never quite succeeds in winning over either the kids that will want to see it and the parents that will take them to the cinema, Are We There Yet? stars rapper-cum-movie star Ice Cube as Nick, a playboy with a successful business, a brand new car, and a severe aversion to children. When he meets the gorgeous Suzanne (Nia Long) and falls for her charms, there are only two problems: her nine and seven-year-old daughter and son. Her kids send shivers down Nick's spine. Not that they are too keen on him either: these two devious monsters have minds if their own when it comes to who should be dating their mother, and if they don't like her choice, which is invariably the case, they are more than happy to make his life as difficult as possible.

When Suzanne has to go to Vancouver on a business trip, Nick reluctantly agrees to accompany the kids to the airport. The fun begins when they miss both plane and train and are forced to drive hundreds of miles in his pride and joy, his pristine Lincoln Navigator. It's a match made in hell, and soon the kids have the upper hand. The car is inevitably wrecked both inside and out. The kids try to escape by jumping a train. There are throwing up scenes, scenes involving a deer, and even scenes when the kids try to persuade fellow drivers that Nick is a child snatcher.

Despite being polar opposites, the two sides eventually begin to attract when Nick saves them from danger, prevents a medical crisis, and shows the two youngsters how to be cool. As they warm to each other Nick gradually realises that children are not all bad, while the two young ones are able to get over their attachment to an errant and unloving father.

This is glossy, schmaltzy stuff, which has some good intentions in promoting a greater understanding between single men and children. Director Brian Levant previously made Jingle All The Way and his ease with helming this sort of material is obvious, capturing energetic performances from Aleisha Allen and Philip Daniel Bolden as the two young terrors.

Although most adults are likely to find it way too sugary, the film has been a solid commercial success in the USA, where Ice Cube is becoming an increasingly familiar box office presence thanks to hits such as Torque and Barbershop. Produced under his own company's banner, there's no reason not to imagine another potential franchise with this diversion into the family market.

Paul Hurley