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'RV' aims for 'Lampoon'-like road shtick

What's the matter, wasn't Chevy Chase available?

Sometime in the future, expect the announcement that the movie RV is really a long-lost installment in National Lampoon's Vacation series. It is sort of a Father Knows Least on wheels, with Robin Williams shamelessly playing a doofus dad, unable to steer a rented recreational vehicle out of his driveway without wreaking havoc in the neighborhood. Cue the sitcom laugh track.

Sony Pictures 'RV' B- The verdict: A National Lampoon's Vacation wannabe, with Williams as the doofus dad this time. Director: Barry Sonnenfeld Starring: Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels Run time: 98 minutes Release date: April 28, 2006 Rating: PG for crude humor, innuendo and language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'RV'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Actually there is some funny stuff in RV, but it is mostly low-brow and predictable. You merely have to know that these mega-campers have toilets with waste collection tanks that get emptied manually to picture the three-act play that Williams turns the process into.

He plays Bob Munro, a soft drink executive so intimidated by his boss that he cancels a Hawaii vacation and talks his wife (Curb Your Enthusiasm's Cheryl Hines) and two kids (Josh Hutcherson and Joanna "Jo Jo" Levesque, a candidate for the next Lindsay Lohan) into an RV drive through Colorado, near where a big merger sales pitch is about to take place.

The Munros are not good candidates for a close-quarters road trip, unlike the more compatible, if daft, Gornicke clan (headed by Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth), whom they meet, dislike instantly and keep meeting throughout the movie.

Ultimately, the Munros learn some lessons on values, Bob learns about parenting and this crass, but amusing comedy settles for a warm, fuzzy resolution.