by moviebabbling.com

Created on: May 04, 2007   Last Updated: November 09, 2009

"Are We Done Yet?" feels much like a movie without a script. It offers no laughs and no surprises, and for most of its 90 minutes, plays like an exact copy of its deplorable predecessor "Are We There Yet?". Young cinemagoers may occasionally appreciate the film's humdrum silliness, but adults are likely to check their watch and think: is this movie over yet?

The plot picks up shortly after Nick Persons (Ice Cube) successfully delivers his promise to taxi his girlfriend's mischievous kids from Oregon to Vancouver. He and Suzanne (Nia Long) are now married, but their life is far from perfect. They all live in a cramped downtown flat, Nick has trouble selling his concept for a sports magazine, and Suzanne announces that she's pregnant with twins.

In an attempt to escape the stress of the big city, the Persons decide to move to the countryside, where they are tricked into buying a real fixer-upper. Lacking the budget to let the pros handle the building, Nick decides to do the renovation himself, which will only lead to chaos and family turmoil.

"Are We Done Yet?" Is based on the 1948 motion picture "Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House" with Cary Grant and Myrna Roy, and is directed by Steve Carr, whose "Rebound" and "Daddy Day Care" failed to score with critics. The screenplay by Hank Nelken gives Carr one too many opportunities to pull us through scenes of absurd slapstick and primitive dialogue.

Watching "Are We Done Yet?" feels like experiencing a sense of deja vous. Not only does the movie mindlessly recycle material from recent family comedies (think "Cheaper By the Dozen 2" crossed with "Dr. Dolittle"), but it also fails to generate any qualities of inventive filmmaking. Instead, we get to watch Ice Cube as he faces many ridiculous obstacles on his way to fix a house and build a family. A fight with a raccoon is only one of an array of tedious events.

Films with a hopeless plot sometimes rely on solid acting performances, but "Are We Done Yet?" has to pass on this one too. Ice Cube tries to play cool but repeats his lines without heart or soul. Instead, he gets all fired up about a luxurious private toilet. The same applies to Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden, who reprise their roles as Nia Long's annoying brats.

The movie's only positive asset is John C. McGinley, best known for his hilarious performance as Dr. Perry Cox on "Scrubs." In "Are We Done Yet?", his multiple roles as real estate agent, contractor and midwife provide him with a perfect opportunity to fully exploit his sense of silliness and offer some eccentric segments.

Ultimately, "Are We Done Yet?" is a failure from start to finish. The tagline of the movie ironically reads: "New Home. New Family. What could possibly go wrong?" Truth be told, in this picture, just about everything went wrong.

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