COLLEGE ROAD TRIP

My little guy is on spring break this week, so today, we headed off for the movies. I thought he might want to see Horton Hears a Who, but he said, "We could see College Road Trip!" Ok, I thought, why not? Might be kind of a funny movie!

This is story of an over-protective father (Martin Lawrence) who's having a hard time letting go of his "little girl", who is heading off for college. (It kinda made me think of Father of the Bride). The daughter, Melanie - played by Raven Symone - wants to attend a college thats far from home; but dad wants her to stay local. Symone is adorable - of course she makes me feel OLD, since I used to watch her as little "Olivia" on the Cosby Show. Anyway, the movie is about the road trip that Dad takes her on to check out different colleges. For one, he can't stand the thought of her going by herself. PLUS, he thinks he's gonna talk her out of going to the college of her choice. The sum of it is, that he has to let go of his baby, and the movie is his journey to get to that place. It's a clean (rated G) film, kinda silly, and a little funny. We both had some out-loud laughs, and I had a few tears in the end. Donny Osmond plays the goofy father of a goofy daughter; a couple of characters that Dad and Melanie keep running into on their trip. (Kinda like the Gornicke's from RV!) While I enjoyed Donny's character, the daughter's part was like nails on a chalkboard! Ugh! And there were plenty of dumb scenes, too. Like when Symone sings Double Dutch Bus on the tour bus - it seemed kinda thrown in to showcase her singing. Or the scene where the pet pig ruins a wedding reception (think cake in the face; sliding across a reception table trying to catch the pig, the pig running into a pig-on-a-platter, etc).

Still, it was a light- hearted comedy, and a good clean movie to take your seven-year-old to. Don't bother buying the DVD when it comes out, but if you have nothing better to do when your little ones are on spring break, go ahead and see it!