I sat through the entire film for one reason only - glimpses of the delightful Sarah Michelle Gellar. While SMG does appear several times (invariably in some form of bikini top) it's not often enough to make up for the rest of this execrable production.
A well-to-do Beverly Hills family find themselves stranded on a deserted island and pull together to 'make do'. One of the hilarious aspects of this film is just how well they manage to adapt to their new surroundings. Within a few weeks we not only have a 3 bedroom house constructed, but we've got a working power supply, dishwasher and electric lights. The air conditioning is on its way. Basically, the technology on the island is best described as Gilligan's Island on crack.
Of course, there are some nasties on the island too, but I wouldn't want to give too much away.
Now, on to the acting. Martin Mull (dad) and SMG (daughter) put in pretty good performances. Everyone else does a very poor job, the sort of stuff you'd expect on a low-budget Disney family movie. I had serious problems deciding whether the Ryan O'Donohue (son) was actually male or female too.
There are plot holes you could drive a truck through, and many leads are not followed up.
The soundtrack is appalling, the usual children's TV type of muzak. Bad stuff indeed.
All of that said, I must admit to laughing heartily at just how pathetic this production was, so it is worthwhile from a comedy perspective. I would imagine that little kids would love the movie too - unsurprising as they are the target audience.
All up, 3 out of 10 (2 for the laughs at how bad the film was, 1 for the occasional glimpse of SMG in a bikini top).
