Are We There Yet? is a 2005 comedy film which was produced by Revolution Studios and was distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Brian Levant. Although it was panned by critics,[1] it grossed $82 million in North America alone and sold 3.7 million DVDs.
The film, while set in Portland, Oregon, Vancouver, British Columbia and other parts of the Pacific Northwest, was mostly shot on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, including a view of the Lions' Gate Bridge, the Financial District skyscrapers and the downtown scene near the film's conclusion. A sequel, Are We Done Yet?, was released in 2007.
Plot
Nick Persons (Ice Cube), the main protagonist, is a bachelor, who specializes in sports collectibles. He finds himself attracted to the bright, stunning Suzanne Kingston (Nia Long), until he realizes that she has 2 children: Daughter, Lindsey Kingston (Aleisha Allen) and son, Kevin Kingston (Philip Bolden). Lindsey is 11 years old and Kevin is 7 years old. They strongly believe that the only man suitable for her is their estranged father, Frank Kingston (Henry Simmons), whom they haven't seen in years. Nick's best friends are the co-owner of his store, Marty (Jay Mohr), and a bobblehead named Satchel Paige (Tracy Morgan), who talks to Nick through his conscience.
When Suzanne is stuck in Vancouver on a business trip, she is unhappy missing her children. Furthermore, Frank Kingston (Lindsey and Kevin's father), who was supposed to be looking after Lindsey and Kevin for the weekend, cancels at the last minute, saying that he was sick. Later in the movie, it turns out that Frank has lied to them, as Lindsey and Kevin pass by his house, discovering that their father has a new wife and newborn baby. Seizing the opportunity to win Suzanne over, Nick offers to transport Lindsey and Kevin from Portland to Vancouver by plane, despite the fact that he finds that the kids very annoying and described them as snotty nos runts and cockroaches only you can't squish them. Lindsey and Kevin do their best to make Nick's trip as nightmarish as possible.
When Nick first meets Lindsey and Kevin, they insist he takes them out and shows them how to be 'gangster'. Nick gives Kevin a knife and tells him "the first rule is protect yourself". Nick, Lindsey, and Kevin were supposed to go on a plane to Vancouver. However, as knives are not allowed on planes, Kevin must get rid of the one that was given to him by Nick. He sneaks the knife into Nick's coat pocket to get him in trouble. The guard asks Nick to come over here, and Nick does so. He tells him to spread Nick's arms and legs apart, and then the guard starts to check to see if Nick is hiding any weapons or anything dangerous. When he checks Nick's pocket, the starts making a weird beeping sound, and the guards reaches into Nick's coat pocket to see what weapon he has. When he sees that Nick has the knife, he shouts, "CORKSCREW!", and then, some other guards run up to Nick and tackle him to the ground (one guards body-slams Nick's face).
Nick, Lindsey, and Kevin are now forbidden to travel by plane, so they must travel by train now. Nick boarded the train, and as the train was pulling off, he realized that Lindsey and Kevin were not on the train. Nick runs to the back of the train, keeping up with them, until he gets to the end of the train. He then jumps off of the train, leaving the luggage in the seat, that he was intending to sit in on board the train. Nick and the kids then drive to Vancouver. Nick tells Suzanne that they decided to walk.
While they are walking, Kevin insists that the 'gangster' lessons resume. Nick obliges, and says the kids, especially Kevin, must learn to attract the opposite sex. Nick then conveniently spots a hot looking woman on the other side of the street and immediately asks her to come over. This woman takes a liking to Nick, and he is clearly happy with his success, and grins broadly. At this point another man comes out from the bushes nude and starts screaming. The woman stares in the direction of the man and is distracted by his body and chases him as he runs away. At this point Nick spots a car and decides driving is a better option.
The road trip seems to be a disaster from the outset, as Nick faces numerous mishaps in quick succession (first, Lindsey tells Al Buck (M.C. Gainey), the main antagonist, to help them (through a sign, that Lindsey has wrote) escape Nick when he keeps threatening Kevin. ). However, after Lindsey and Kevin discover their father's betrayal, they warm up to Nick, as he does with them, when he tells them that he, too, was abandoned by his father. With the consent of the kids, Nick and Suzanne are officially dating by the end of the film.
Production
Are We There Yet? was filmed in Campbell River, British Columbia, the Vancouver International Airport (disguised as Portland International Airport), and Portland. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver. The highway by the shoreline on the way to Whistler Mountain is the Sea-To-Sky Highway. The suspension bridge is above Stanley Park, and they drive over one of the many bridges that connect downtown with the southern part of the city. The scene at the truck stop and the Restaurant after the kids saw their father in the window was filmed in Britannia Beach. The chase at the end where the truck chase was filmed on the Cambie Street Bridge and Dunsmiur St. between Howe and Burrard Station.
The train featured in the movie is VIA Rail. In reality, VIA Rail travels only in Canada. The Amtrak route is the Amtrak Cascades which goes through Seattle. The Pacific Central Station in Vancouver is a local landmark.
Cast
Reception
The film received very negative reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes lists it with a "Rotten" rating of only 12% from T-meter critics, based on 111 reviews (13 fresh, 98 rotten) with an average rating of 3.3/10, and an even worse rating of only 10% from the top critics based on 31 reviews (3 fresh, 28 rotten) with an average rating of 3.7/10. Metacritic lists it with a 24 out of 100 which indicates "generally negative reviews". Roger Ebert gave it 2 out of 4 stars saying it wasn't funny and the children were too fictional.
Box office
The film opened at #1 with a gross of $18,575,214 in 2,709 theaters averaging $6,856 per venue. The film's opening weekend made up 22.57% of its final domestic gross. In its second weekend, the film dropped to #2 but lost just 12% of its audience, grossing a further $16,346,395, and raised the 10 day total to $38,458,267. It closed on June 16, 2005 with a final gross of $97,918,663 worldwide ($82,674,398 in North America and $15,244,265 overseas)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
