Martin Lawrence and Raven Symone are the daughter and father who have to endure a road trip together to look at colleges.
Police Chief Porter (Lawrence) loves his little girl and doesn’t want her to go far away from home to school. He has done everything he can to make the local college her choice. Melanie (Symone) has a different take on the situation, and is looking forward to freedom from constant parental observation, and living her life on her own terms.
When Melanie has a chance to interview at her top college choice, 1,000 miles across the country, her Dad decides to make it a road trip, but one that is completely under his control.
There are points in this film that are very funny, and bits that are so far over the top you cringe rather than laugh…if you are an adult, that is. The kids loved it, thought it was hysterical and that everyone was great.
They identified with Melanie and her friends, and the quest for freedom from parental rules, and couldn’t wait to watch it a second time. For the older viewers, it was distasteful to see Chief Porter portrayed as a buffoon rather than a caring Dad, doing completely stupid things that really seemed out of character.
The best scenes were those with his wife but unfortunately they were only used early on to introduce the situation. Once she was gone from the scene, all chaos broke loose.
When the father and daughter started on the road trip, the fun seemed to turn rather mean, which included deception, and people getting hurt and property being destroyed unnecessarily. In the words of another adult viewer, it was if they “tried too hard” to make this a hilarious film, and just missed it.
College Road Trip is presented on single disc, with the option of widescreen or full screen viewing. There are lots of bonus features that delight the kids. Included on the disc are a gag reel, alternate opening and endings, deleted scenes, the Double Dutch Bus music video performed by Raven Symone, and an on the set featurette of Double Dutch Bus.
For production details there is Raven’s Video Diary of the filming, Two audio commentaries, one with director Roger Kumble and Raven-Symone, and the other with writers Emi Mochizuki and Carrie Evans. These are interesting, and shed light on some production decisions.
The running time for the feature is 83 minutes, and the audio is available in English or French, and English, French or Spanish subtitles.
College Road Trip is harmless fun for the older kids, and there are some laugh out loud moments. With just a little less chaos, it would have been so much better.
College Road Trip is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story