''Are We Done Yet?'' is a 2007 American
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
comedy film
The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by
Steve Carr and starring
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...
. The film is the second installment in the
''Are We There Yet?'' franchise, and the sequel to the 2005
movie of the same name. The plot of the movie is taken from ''
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948). The screenplay is by Hank Nelken. It was produced by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
,
Revolution Studios
Revolution Studios Distribution Company, LLC (operating as Revolution Studios) is an American independent motion picture and foreign sales company headed by Chief Executive Officer Scott Hemming, founded in 2000, and based in Los Angeles, Los Ang ...
and
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
and distributed by
Sony Pictures Releasing
Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operatio ...
.
The film was shot on location in
Tsawwassen, British Columbia
Tsawwassen ( ) is a suburban, mostly residential community on a peninsula in the southwestern corner of the City of Delta in British Columbia, Canada. It provides the only road access to the American territory on the southern tip of the peninsul ...
, Canada, but is set in
Newberg, Oregon
Newberg is a city in Yamhill County, Oregon, Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to George Fox University. As of 2023 the city population was 26,095 making it the second most populous ...
, United States.
Plot
Two years after the events of the
first film, Nick Persons has married Suzanne Kingston and moved her children, Kevin and Lindsey into his apartment, as well as purchasing a
Cadillac Escalade after he accidentally burnt up his
Lincoln Navigator
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln (n ...
. He has also sold his sports memorabilia store and adopted a
Berger Picard
The Berger Picard ( , ) or Picardy Shepherd, is a French herding dog originating in Picardy. These dogs nearly became extinct after both World War I and World War II and remain a rare breed.
Appearance
The Berger Picard is a medium-sized, we ...
named Coco. Kevin and Lindsey have both matured since the previous events.
While getting ready for an interview with
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...
to launch a sports magazine, Suzanne tries telling Nick something important, but is frequently interrupted. Later, during breakfast, Suzanne tells Nick about buying a 3-bedroom apartment right from their neighbors. Suzanne then reveals that she is pregnant and later finds out that they will be having twins.
Needing more space, they try to move to the country and meet Chuck Mitchell Jr., a charming but deceiving local real estate agent/contractor, and after some talking, Nick decides to buy the house. The family then packs up their things and moves into the house, with Lindsey being against the move because she is far away from her friends, has no cell phone reception, and because there are no cute boys. However, as it turns out, Nick failed to get the house inspected first, and everybody scolds him as they soon find a mold infestation. While trying to resolve the mold issue, Chuck discovers even more problems with the house, and Nick becomes angry with him as he almost destroys it trying to fix them all while also being scolded by Suzanne and the kids after Nick goes fishing.
Meanwhile, Lindsey, still wanting to be treated like an adult, falls in love with one of Chuck's employees, Danny Pulu, a young adult and the youngest of the Pulu family, who equally starts flirting with her and happens to be from her math class in her old school. One night, Nick finds Lindsey's bedroom door wide open and suggests she has left the house, so he asks Kevin where she is and reveals that she went to a party at Danny's house. After finding her dancing with Danny, Nick grounds her while firing the Pulu brothers, causing her to resentful enough that she ignores him the next day.
When Nick gets a voicemail about an executive trying to move on with his idea if he can't get Magic, Nick finally decides to fire Chuck after he tells him that the house needs a whole new foundation during a yoga exercise where Suzanne scolds Nick for forgetting their practice from being busy working with the house. When Chuck reveals that he knew that there was more work to be done with the house, Nick tells Chuck to leave the house, which causes all those working on the house to quit out of loyalty to Chuck.
After everybody leaves, Suzanne scolds Nick again and tells him that he needs to hire Chuck back, but Nick refuses and tries to sell the house again so he can move back to his condo in the city. During their argument, Nick finally steps his ground and calls Suzanne out for her naiveté while also arguing that he would not be in the situation if it weren't for her and the kids. Needing some time to think, Suzanne then proclaims that she and the kids will be staying in the guest house until she cools down.
After taking some time to think, Nick decides to fix the house on his own after having a talk with Kevin while fishing and Lindsey apologizing, promising to truly act mature from then on. This inspires Nick to apologize to Chuck, causing the latter to reveal that his wife, a famous country singer, died a few years prior. Chuck tries making things up in return by bringing his friends back to help, including Kevin, Lindsey, and Danny, who his brothers force him to apologize about the party.
After finishing the house, when Nick tries to apologize, Suzanne is in the middle of having contractions and starts going into labor. The family tries to go to the hospital, but since the hospital is half an hour away, the babies are coming quickly. With no choice but to have labor in the house, Nick, Kevin, and Lindsey have to deliver the babies. Chuck tries to get there, but his truck breaks down and he is forced to power walk down to the house. While she is still in labor, Nick gets a call from Magic Johnson. After Suzanne gives birth to identical twin boys, the movie ends six months later with a big BBQ in their backyard, at which Nick debuts his new magazine titled ''Are We Done Yet?'', based on his experience building the house.
Cast
Production
The film is a remake of the 1948
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...
comedy ''
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' and produced by
Ted Hartley of
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
.
Release
The film made $58.4 million worldwide.
The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2007, and opened on #3, behind ''
Ocean's Thirteen
''Ocean's Thirteen'' is a 2007 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. It is the third in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy and a sequel to ''Ocean's Twelve'' (2004). The film features an en ...
'' and ''
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''.
Home media
''Are We Done Yet?'' was released on
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 ki ...
and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on August 7, 2007 by
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.
Background
SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...
.
Reception
Like its predecessor, ''Are We Done Yet?'' was panned by critics.
Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American 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 from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Neil Smith for
BBC.com gave the film 1 out of 5 stars and wrote: "McGinley, as it happens, is the film's only trump card, his madcap multi tasker stealing every scene he's in and leaving the movie's nominal star for dead."
In one of the few positive reviews, Nathan Rabin of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' gave the film a grade B. Rabin praises McGinley and calls Ice Cube's performance "strangely charming". Rabin concludes: "It isn't gangsta, but it's winning all the same."
References
External links
*
*
{{Steve Carr
Are We There Yet? (franchise)
2007 films
2007 comedy films
2000s pregnancy films
Remakes of American films
American sequel films
2000s English-language films
Films based on multiple works
Films about dysfunctional families
Films set in Oregon
Magic Johnson
American pregnancy films
Cube Vision films
Revolution Studios films
RKO Pictures films
Films directed by Steve Carr
Films produced by Ice Cube
Films scored by Teddy Castellucci
African-American comedy films
Columbia Pictures films
Films shot in British Columbia
2000s American films
African-American films
Films produced by Ted Hartley