''RV'' (also known as ''Runaway Vacation'') is a 2006

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Barry Sonnenfeld Barry Sonnenfeld (born April 1, 1953) is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as ''The Addams Family'' (1991) and its sequel ''Addams Family Va ...

, produced by

Lucy Fisher Lucy Fisher (born October 2, 1949) is an American film producer. She was previously Vice Chairman of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group at Sony Studios, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Production at Warner Brothers, Head of Producti ...

and

Douglas Wick Douglas Wick is an American film producer whose work includes producing '' Gladiator'', ''Stuart Little'', and ''Memoirs of a Geisha''. Life and career Wick is the son of actress Mary Jane (Woods) and United States Information Agency director ...

, written by

Geoff Rodkey Geoff Rodkey (born September 9, 1970) is an American screenwriter and author. His most recent novel is the suburban-apocalypse comedy ''Lights Out in Lincolnwood''. Previously, he co-wrote comedian Kevin Hart's 2021 debut middle grade novel ''M ...

. It stars

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

in the lead role, Jeff Daniels,

Cheryl Hines Cheryl Ruth Hines (born September 21, 1965) is an American actress and director, best known for playing the role of Larry David's wife, Cheryl, on HBO's ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', for which she has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also s ...

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

, Joanna Levesque, and

Josh Hutcherson Joshua Ryan Hutcherson (born October 12, 1992) is an American actor and producer. Hutcherson began acting in the early 2000s and appeared in several commercials and minor film and television roles before landing his first major role in 2002 in ...

. Bob Munro (Williams) and his

dysfunctional family A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often child neglect or abuse and sometimes even all of the above on the part of individual parents occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate suc ...

rent an RV for a road trip from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, where they ultimately have to contend with a bizarre community of campers. It premiered at the Village Theater, Los Angeles on April 23, 2006. The North American theatrical release followed on April 28, 2006, and was released on UMD,

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

on August 15, 2006.

Plot

Bob Munro, a successful

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

beverage company executive, is struggling to reconnect with his

, which includes his materialistic wife, Jamie, his irritable and brash sixteen-year-old daughter, Cassie, and his mischievous twelve-year-old son, Carl, who is an aspiring

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

and likes hip hop. At a company picnic, Bob is embarrassed in front of his self-absorbed boss, Todd Mallory, by Cassie's militant friend, Gretchen, who hurls a bottle of schmaltz all over Todd's face for putting unhealthy drinks in schools. This causes Jamie to faint. Looking forward to a big family vacation in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, the Munros are forced to cancel it when Todd, out of spite, tells Bob that he has to attend a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

meeting with the Alpine Soda company in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

instead, or else he will be fired. Concealing the real reason for not going to Hawaii, he rents a garish RV from the dodgy dealer Irv and tells his family they are traveling to the

Rockies The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

, much to their dismay. During their trip, the Munros have many mishaps, which include Bob damaging the parking brake, crashing into and running over various objects, flushing out a trio of

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

s with a

stink bomb A stink bomb, sometimes called a stinkpot, is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. They range in effectiveness from being used as simple pranks to military grade malodorants or riot control chemical agents. History A stink bomb ...

, and fixing a clogged sewage system. Along the way, the Munros meet another traveling family, the Gornickes, consisting of Travis, his wife Mary Jo, and their children, Earl, Moon, and Billy. Earl develops a romantic interest in Cassie, and Carl starts to like Moon, but thinking that the Gornickes are too strange for them, Bob and Jamie decide to ditch them. When they reappear at another stop, the Munros believe they are stalking them. Meanwhile, Bob tries to e-mail a

proposal Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to: * Proposal (business) * Research proposal * Proposal (marriage) * Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy Arts, entertainment, and media * The Proposal (album), ''The Proposal'' (album) Films ...

outline from his

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

, working in restrooms. Eventually, a

hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

steals it, leaving him with only a

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

PDA PDA may refer to: Science and technology * Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books *Personal digital assistant, a mobile device * Photodiode array, a type of detector * Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...

, which he does manage to use to compose and wirelessly send his proposal to his company. The Gornickes then recover the stolen laptop after picking up the same hitchhiker and persuading him to return it. Eventually, the Munros begin to enjoy their trip. In order to attend the meeting, Bob distracts his family by faking illness and sends them on a hike. The meeting is a success, and Bob is invited to talk to the whole company again the next day. Rushing back to his family in the RV, he takes a treacherous 4 wheel drive trail, and gets the huge RV stuck atop a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

in the middle of the trail. He eventually manages to dislodge the RV from the mountain by getting on the front and rocking it until it eventually wobbles and tips forward enough to slide down from atop the mountain. Now riding on the front while it is traveling at a frenzied pace, Bob barely manages to return to his family in time. While Bob is attempting a similar ruse the next day, the parking brake fails again and the RV rolls into a lake. Bob comes clean about the true purpose of the trip, and his family becomes upset that he would treat them like that. Still needing to get to the meeting, he asks them for help, but they refuse. He retrieves one of their bicycles from the lake the RV rolled into and pedals off by himself. His family hitchhikes and is then picked up by the Gornickes, and soon realize how well they get along with each other. Bob appears again, climbing atop the moving RV. He apologizes to his family, and they, in turn, apologize to him for their selfishness and reveal that they love him more than the lifestyle his job gives them. As support, the two families accompany Bob to the next meeting. At the meeting, Bob starts his speech and it goes well, but then he has an

epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

and recommends against the merger, realizing that Todd's selfishness would destroy a great independent company. Todd gets upset and tries to dismiss Bob's claims, but Cassie backs her father up by saying Todd was outsourcing the company. In retaliation, Todd fires Bob on the spot. Carl gets angry at Todd and flips him over his shoulder, onto the ground. Bob then tells Todd that he quits anyhow. Bob soon retrieves the sodden-but-still-operable RV from the lake. At the end, he is offered a job by the owners of Alpine Soda, who want to go national independently with Bob. In addition, at the same time, the parking brake fails once again, causing the RV to roll backwards, flattening both a police car and the Alpine Soda company owner's car. Ultimately, the Munros and the Gornickes dance and sing "

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

Cast

as Bob Munro * Jeff Daniels as Travis Gornicke *

as Jamie Munro, Bob's wife *

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

as Mary Jo Gornicke, Travis's wife * Joanna Levesque as Cassie Munro, Bob & Jamie's daughter ** Erika-Shaye Gair as 5-year-old Cassie Munro *

as Carl Munro, Bob & Jamie's son *

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...

as Todd Mallory, Bob's self-absorbed boss *

Hunter Parrish Hunter Parrish Tharp (born May 13, 1987) is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing the role of Silas Botwin in the Showtime series '' Weeds'' and for his performances in the Broadway productions of ''Godspell'' in the role of Jesu ...

as Earl Gornicke, Travis & Mary Jo's son * Chloe Sonnenfeld as Moon Gornicke, Travis & Mary Jo's daughter * Alex Ferris as Billy Gornicke, Travis & Mary Jo's son *

Brendan Fletcher Brendan Fletcher (born December 15, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He first gained recognition as a child actor, winning a Leo Award and being nominated for a Gemini Award his acting debut in the made-for-television film ''Little Criminals''. He ...

as Howie * Rob LaBelle a Larry Moiphine *

Brian Markinson Brian Markinson (born September 1, 1961) is an American-Canadian actor who has appeared in a wide variety of films and television shows. Some of Markinson's best known roles include a U.S. Attorney General in ''Shooter'', an unscrupulous industr ...

as Garry Moiphine *

Matthew Gray Gubler Matthew Gray Gubler (, ; born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, filmmaker, fashion model, painter, illustrator, director, and author. He is best known for his role as criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show ''Criminal M ...

as Joseph "Joe Joe" *

as Irv *

Richard Ian Cox Richard Ian Cox (born October 3, 1973) is a Welsh-born Canadian actor, comedian and online radio host. He is best known for his voice work for English language dubs of anime, mainly for ''Inuyasha''. Cox gained prominence for playing the ch ...

as Laird (as Richard Cox) *

Ty Olsson Ty Olsson (born January 28, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Benny Lafitte in ''Supernatural'', real-life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television film '' Flight 93'', and Ord in the PBS Kids animated children's series '' ...

as Diablo Pass Officer

Production

The film began principal photography in the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

area and

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.James Newton Howard James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951) is an American film composer, music producer and keyboardist. He has scored over 100 films and is the recipient of a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and nine nominations for Academy Awards. His film scores ...

and featured several members of the

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

Band:

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voc ...

(keyboards),

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Da ...

(drums), Ray Herndon (guitar),

Viktor Krauss Viktor Krauss is an American musician who plays acoustic and electric bass. He has released solo albums and has worked as a sideman with many musicians, including his sister, singer and fiddler Alison Krauss. Music career Krauss was born to Fre ...

(bass), and Buck Reid (pedal steel).

Alvin Chea Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as Do ...

, vocalist from

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music, gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood University, Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received seve ...

, provided solo vocals. Additional music was provided by Stuart Michael Thomas and Blake Neely. Several songs were featured prominently in the film including: " GTO", "

", " Cherry Bomb", and " Stand by Your Man".

Release

The film was theatrically released in North America on April 28, 2006 by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and was released on UMD,

and

on August 15, 2006 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film grossed $71.7 million in America and $15.8 million in other territories for a total gross of $87.5 million, against a production budget of $50 million. In its opening weekend, it finished number one at the box office with $16.4 million in 3,639 theaters.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 24% based on 124 reviews and an average rating of 4.26/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An unoriginal and only occasionally funny family road-trip movie, ''RV'' is a mediocre effort that not even the charisma of Robin Williams can save." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a score of 33 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave it an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Justin Chang of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said "''RV'' works up an ingratiating sweetness that partially compensates for its blunt predictability and meager laughs."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, writing for the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', gave the film two out of four stars, saying "There is nothing I much disliked but little to really recommend."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{Barry Sonnenfeld 2006 films 2000s adventure comedy films 2000s comedy road movies American adventure comedy films American comedy road movies German adventure comedy films German comedy road movies English-language German films Films about dysfunctional families Films about vacationing Films set in Colorado Films shot in Alberta Films shot in Vancouver Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld Films produced by Lucy Fisher Films produced by Douglas Wick Films scored by James Newton Howard 2006 comedy films Relativity Media films Golden Raspberry Award winning films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s German films