R.V.

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Columbia Pictures

2 stars

Barry Sonnenfeld’s (“Men in Black II”) family-adventure flick “R.V.” suggests that two things will happen to relatives who vacation in a motor home: they will bond in unforeseen ways, and they will constantly face complications involving fecal matter.

“R.V.” depends largely on potty humor to elicit laughs, which is disappointing in light of its sharp comic cast featuring Robin Williams and Cheryl Hine (of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame). But the film is saved by a string of quips that reference the current state of American society and pop culture. These jokes, which seem to target a post-pubescent audience, make the film reasonably amusing for viewers of all ages.

Williams stars as Bob Munro, the patriarch and sole breadwinner for his well-to-do family. When a young up-and-comer threatens to snag Bob’s executive position at the PureVibe soda corporation, Bob goes to desperate lengths to keep his job secure. He cancels his family’s upcoming tropical vacation and instead takes them on a road trip in a rented R.V., so that he may surreptitiously attend a business juncture in the Colorado Rockies.

Williams finds himself in familiar territory with this role: he assumes the same affable-dad-who-just-wants-to-reconnect-with-his-kids persona that he took on in “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Hook.”

But unlike Williams’ previous characters, Bob is a man of the 21st century whose wit stems from his cultural and technological savvy. He calls his son “home slice,” laments their lack of “‘7th Heaven’ moments,” and sagely explains to his children, “Life is hard. Not ‘the TiVo in my bedroom isn’t working’ hard. ‘Making a living for the ones you love’ hard.” Delivering such lines as these, Bob becomes an endearing mixture of a dorky dad and a sarcastic cultural critic.

Cultural awareness is not particular to Williams’ character; the film largely uses contemporary societal issues as comic ammunition. Bob’s job at a soda company and his rental of an R.V. make room for characters to voice clever remarks about obesity and gas inefficiency in America, respectively.

But the film’s gross-out moments outweigh its incisive ones. In an unnecessarily long sequence of the film, Bob faces the ugly task of fixing the R.V.’s backed-up plumbing system. And he continually cites a need to defecate as a reason to park the vehicle, so that he can work on a business proposal in secret.

While these moments had many viewers in stitches, fans of Williams’ biting standup or his darker turns in recent comedies like “Death to Smoochy” may find this shift to potty humor lackluster.

That being said, “R.V.” is obviously not meant to be a pointed comedy; it’s a crude PG-rated family flick. While it follows a hackneyed story line, pop-culture jokes give the film a degree of freshness. Williams, Hines, and co-stars Jeff Daniels (“The Squid and the Whale”) and Kristen Chenowith (“The Pink Panther”) are wonderful comic talents to watch. Finally, the film’s candy-bright color scheme is fun, visually appealing, and totally unrealistic. It suggests that “R.V.” does not take itself too seriously, but rather delights in its own camp.

Bottom Line: “R.V.” is smarter and more stylish than other family-adventure films. But if you’re not ultimately a fan of the genre, best to keep the car at home.