Papa, la fac et moi

This film goes to show that you can be on top of the world and fall all the way down. With "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins","Wild Hogs" and now "College Road Trip" under Lawrence's belt, i don't know how much more he can take. This movie is pretty standard "Cheaper by the Dozen" film. With all the sight gags and kiddy jokes about pigs and dancing, and, of course the soft spot for tolerance. Donny Osmond was straight forward in this film and Lawrence was really exaggerated as a goofy dad. Raven Symone played a OK part, but not a real big leap forward for the young actress. Of course, this doesn't mean the film is all bad. The movie, in its quirky way is funny. With its zany comedy style, like animal humor and kiss jokes...this film reaches to little kids. If you have young ones, this wont be bad for them, but for you...its okay.

I have never seen a Martin Lawrence movie before, and this movie did make me into a new fan. I have seen his material here and there, but his material never has grabbed me. But today, I went with my mother and my eight-year-old niece to see "College Road Trip." I fully expected to be disappointed, but it turned out to be okay for me. Not the best and not the worst, but entertaining here and there.

The story goes that Raven Symone is Melanie, who aspires to become a lawyer at Northwestern University in her hometown suburban Chicago, but gets a letter of acceptance to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Her three girlfriends are going, and she wants to go to. But her father James (Lawrence) fears losing his little girl, and wants to accompany her on the trip. Tagging along is her little brother Trey and their pet pig Albert, who hide in the trunk the first quarter of the journey. That leaves behind Mom Michelle (Kym Whitley).

On the way, they stop at Northwestern University, and who do they run into - Donny Osmond as Doug Greenhut and Molly Ephraim as his daughter Wendy. Both have the same exact aspirations - She wants to go to Georgetown and he tags along with her. And when James and Melanie make pitstops, Doug and Wendy end up at those same stops. Doug and Wendy's annoyingly overperky behavior and singing and dancing are the highlights of this movie. They are so loud they make James and Melanie cringe, but they always pop up at the same stops. And when James' car breaks down, they get into Doug and Wendy's truck. But my real favorite part is when they lose Doug and Wendy along the way, get on a bus, and get all the Asian tourists to sing and dance to Frankie Smith's 1981 hit, "Double Dutch Bus."

As James and Melanie get closer, they visit James' mother in Pittsburgh, and James gets to come to terms with his long lost mother about letting go of children. Finally, they sky dive all the way to Georgetown, where, who else, Wendy becomes Melanie's roommate and then the two would head to Japan.

Donny Osmond and the pig do take away from Martin Lawrence's and Raven Symone's performances. The pig is funny, especially when Lawrence disguises him as a baby in a quaint hotel where no pets are allowed and then makes a big mess at a wedding taking place at that hotel. Osmond's preppy, squeaky clean, teen idol image is played to great exaggeration, his character's wife and daughter add to the perkiness. But Martin Lawrence and his family are sadly undermined by Donny Osmond and the pig, which is the film's major weakness. For 83 minutes, it is not super slow, it does go fast, but there are bumps and curves along, and then there is forced sentiment, when Melanie finally gets to say goodbye to her parents, amid the manic craziness. Martin Lawrence, like many comedians of his generation who turn to movies, is more of a comedian and less of an actor whose performances often resort to overacted slapstick.

I honestly don't see what the big fuss over College Road Trip is. It wasn't a bad movie, in my opinion. It was actually really lovable, and even though it was certainly mediocre most of the time, and I felt as if at some parts they tried too hard to please the audience with mediocre jokes, it was still very entertaining, and contained a pretty good amount of laughable, and that's laughable in the humorous way, material.

It was also nice seeing Raven Symone in this movie, because I am always used to seeing her in what she's famous for, That's So Raven, and it was enlightening to know she played a role, because I love her in that show. Also, even though Martin Lawrence isn't one of the best actors, and definitely isn't one of my favorites, he's not a terrible one, and if you ask me everyone in this movie could act well for their roles, to some extent. There were scenes where I felt as if the antics were outdated and some lines were just not pulled off to the best of the casts' abilities, but when it was over I ended up having fun with it, and that's what it was meant to be in the first place.

It was of course no masterpiece, and it could have been handled a lot more professionally than it was, but doesn't a ton of movies fall under those categories, and yet, many people enjoy them. Overall, it was a good little movie, that isn't as horrible as the rating and negative comments let on to be, so if you're any bit interested in seeing this movie, go ahead, because it wasn't bad or disappointing at all.

OK, this isn't the movie I would select if just my husband and I were going out for the evening. But WE aren't the audience for this- Disney made this for kids and tweens and YES even teens. I have 3 daughters 13, 11, 7, and this movie hit the notes right for THEM. The interplay between Raven's character Melanie and her friends was right on. There is a scene where Melanie's Dad (Lawrence) and she are in the car, and she is on her cell phone forever with their friends- it is so true to life and you would only know that if you've experienced this.

In terms of appropriateness for kids, I can't think of anything in this movie that would offend. There is silly slapstick comedy that had adults and kids alike laughing. Kids who watched Raven on her Disney channel show loved watching her act in this movie. The Donny Osmond character was over the top and, according to my 7 year old, totally hilarious.

Would I select this movie just for me? NO. But folks, if you are looking for a movie for the family to see, or something I could show a mixed age group, this is great. I could pick apart little things about the movie, but those parts of the movie I found to be silly or ridiculous were irrelevant to the kids. This movie both has a heart and is sweet in spirit. I wish more people would CONSIDER the AUDIENCE for whom the movie is intended when writing a review.

Let me get things straight fellow IMDb reviewers. I'm a huge Horror movies fan. I breath Horror.

Why did I watch this movie? Well, I was traveling to another state so in the tour bus the driver played this movie. I prepared a playlist for my Sony Mini Disc filled of rock and more. Heck, I was traveling in order to attend a Faith No More concert.

BUT FOR SOME REASON, I couldn't stop watching the movie. The reason? Martin Lawrence. I mean, come on, the guy makes the funniest faces on earth! Everything I looked up to the t.v. The man made extremely funny faces and it was justified by the cheesy but entertaining plot.

The plot should equal plenty of craziness involving sex, booze, vulgarity but as it's a Disney movie, it needs to be family oriented, creative, having watered down jokes, and featuring silly comedy situations.

I really enjoyed most of the clichés and I don't feel guilty.

I really laughed when the Asian guy made a funny face before singing, or when the sorority house mother used the taser gun against Martin Lawrence, the face he made cracked me up!

Ahhh, I'm a goofhead and I admit it, I don't feel guilty about it, and I'm proud to say that I enjoyed this family oriented movie.

Give it a chance, it has some family oriented humor but it's original and funny.