Johnson Family Vacation is a dud of a comedy though I can’t place a whole lot of blame on the cast, Cedric the Entertainer in particular, and more so on the dull and unfunny script. It’s one of those movies that isn’t fondly remembered and is more of an afterthought when comparing similar films.
Johnson Family Vacation
(2004)
Genre(s): Comedy, Family
Fox | PG13 – 96 min. – $16.99 | March 4, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Christopher Erskin Writer(s): Todd R. Jones & Earl Richey Jones (written by) Cast: Cedric the Entertainer, Bow Wow, Vanessa Williams, Shannon Elizabeth, Steve HarveyDISC INFO: Features: Commentaries, Deleted Scenes Number of Discs: 1Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 2.35 Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish Disc Size: 31.3 GB Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A |
PLOT SUMMARY
Cedric the Entertainer heads up an all-star cast in this comedy adventure about a misfit family — wife Dorothy (VANESSA WILLIAMS), son D.J. (BOW WOW) and daughter Nikki (SOLANGE KNOWLES) — trying to survive obstacles on a cross-country trek to their annual family reunion. Along the way, they battle a psycho truck driver, pick up a voodoo-loving hitchhiker (SHANNON ELIZABETH) and “expose” the dangers of hot-tubbing in a strange hotel.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.75/5
Audio Commentaries – The movie includes two tracks: the first with Actors Cedric the Entertainer and Bow Wow (who, from the sound of it, recorded his session separate from the others), Director Christopher Erskin & Producers Eric C. Rhone and Paul Hall; the second features Writers Todd R. Jones & Earl Richey Jones
Deleted & Extended Scenes (23:49; SD) – 18 scenes are featured here that were cut or excised no doubt for pacing issues.
Johnson Family Vacation: Max on Set (12:53; SD) is a simple behind-the-scenes featurette.
VIDEO – 3.5/5
Fox takes a trip releasing Johnson Family Vacation onto Blu-ray presented in its original 2.35 widescreen aspect ratio and a respectable but un-noteworthy 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture is relatively clean with no noticeable dust marks, artifacts or pixilation and colors seem to be fairly bright. But, and I don’t know for sure, but it seems some sharpening was done as there seems to be minor bouts of edge enhancement.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track included sounds alright considering the genre where the bulk is dialogue, zany antics or the generic comedic score. The center channel gets most of the action with the rear speakers being used for ambient noises or the aforementioned score and choice pop music.
OVERALL – 2.25/5
Overall, Johnson Family Vacation is a dud of a comedy though I can’t place a whole lot of blame on the cast, Cedric the Entertainer in particular, and more so on the dull and unfunny script. It’s one of those movies that isn’t fondly remembered and is more of an afterthought when comparing similar films. The Blu-ray has average audio/video transfers and the features all ported over from the DVD.
Published: 05/06/2014