Are We There Yet
Rated PG for language and rude humor.
reviewed by Krystal Burns
Are you ready for what may be the longest one hour and thirty-one minute road trip of your life? Who knew so much could go wrong in such a short amount of time! Quite literally, “Are We There Yet?” means, are we there at the credits yet? Planes, trains, and automobiles can’t get us there soon enough.
The Story
Nick (Ice Cube) has his eyes set on the beautiful Suzanne (Nia Long), a divorcee with two kids. Nick doesn’t like kids at all, but to win the heart of this mom, he’s going to have to mingle with the little people. But eleven year old Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and seven year old Kevin (Philip Daniel Bolden) are determined to preserve their mother’s single status until their father comes back and their family is reunited. So far they’ve successfully chased away every suitor, and they can’t wait to get their hands on Nick.
The perfect opportunity arises when Suzanne’s ex-husband flakes, leaving her panicked as to what to do with the kids. Nick steps up and agrees to take them to Vancouver for her in his brand new, fully loaded SUV. Little does he know what he’s up against—the question isn’t if he can befriend the little brats, but if can he even get them there in one piece!
The Verdict
“Are We There Yet” offers a few amusing moments, but you can catch them all in the trailer. The rest of the movie exists to try to string the events together. Little creativity is offered, resulting in the same road trip mishaps you’ve seen before only this time with slightly different characters. Flat tires, off-roading, near head-on collisions, road rage, bodily functions at the most inopportune times, and the classic accident prone adult figure are all experienced to the deafly irritating sound of elementary children laughing really, really loud.
But perhaps even worse than the mundane humor is the ending. The story awkwardly wraps up with a happy ending, in which they are all ridiculously out of character. In less than one day, Nick completely reverts to a warm, caring, wanna-be family man as he hugs and kisses the kids (yes, the same ones he cursed two hours ago) and tells them he loves them. And in minutes the kids have transformed into innocent obedient children who are ready to replace their own father with Nick. Sex object Mom apparently has multiple personalities—breaking up with Nick in one moment, only to throw her arms around him in tears the next. The cheesiness of it all is so completely illogical it offers absolutely no satisfaction except to assure you the end is near.
One thing is for sure, you felt like taking a road trip with the family before the movie, you won’t after.
Worldview
(How the movie’s take on life compares to a biblical perspective)Respect for elders used to be something people everyone learned from the time they were little. It didn’t matter if you knew the person or not, adults carried a certain level of authority just because they were older.
But today we live in a very different culture that glorifies youth—just think about the more prominent celebrities. How many are over 50? Growing old has lost most of its dignity—everyone wants to be young, or at least look like it. Hello, botox. Most people would be hard pressed to come up with any benefits to aging. Out with the old and in with the new, right?
This is especially obvious in recent movies and TV sitcoms in which parent figures are depicted as slow, out of touch, and hold little authority over their children. “Are We There Yet?” is no exception as we watch Lindsey and Kevin repeatedly assert themselves as the ones in control of the various situations. Whether deciding who their mother can date, dominating the radio stations in the car, or continually undermining Nick’s requests for their cooperation, the kids rule the world. As viewer, we are not only to accept this as the normal child behavior, but we’re supposed to think it’s funny.
What we don’t understand is that in our obsession with youth, we’ve missed out on what more mature and knowledgeable generations have to offer. Common sense tells us that with experience comes wisdom. There’s so much to learn from older people, whether they are five, ten, fifteen, or fifty years older than us. Don’t take your cues from pop culture, rather from God’s Word. 1 Peter 5:5 says, “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…” (Other references are Leviticus 19:32 and 1 Timothy 5:1)
Discussion Questions
• Did the humor work for you? Why
or why not?
• What was the funniest part of the film?
•
What the most eventful thing that’s ever happened to you
on a road trip?
• What are some ways you can show more respect and appreciation for
people who are older than you?
Let us know what you thought of this review!