Is it possible that I’ve never seen a Martin Lawrence movie before College Road Trip? I went through my mental rolodex, then double-checked the IMDB. Bad Boys? No. Big Momma’s House? No. His self-named TV show? No. So, to tell you the truth, I’m not one to say how much Lawrence toned down his schtick for this very family-friendly Disney movie, but I’ve read that his comedy here versus his usual antics is the equivalent of putting a sock in his mouth, a bag over his head, and tying him to a tree. But, that’s just what I’ve just heard.
Lawrence plays James Porter, a suburban police officer with a smarty-pants daughter named Melanie (Raven-Symoné) who is getting ready to choose her college. Melanie wants to go to Georgetown, but dad wants her to go to glorious Northwestern, which has the convenience of being a mere 40 miles from home, rather than all the way across the country, where clingy dad can’t keep an eye on his little girl. But you see, Melanie wants to go to Georgetown REAL BAD, and has just been offered the chance to interview for admissions, but the problem is that the interview is in DC. After hemming and hawing and guilt-tripping, a road trip is born. Dad’s not happy about it, but he’ll humor his daughter by driving her across the country to Georgetown. I mean, even though she’ll be talking to the folks, it’s not like she’s really going to GO there, right?
College Road Trip is indeed a road trip movie, replete with a stowaway little brother (Eshaya Draper, who cracked me up with his strange, flat delivery), a pet pig, another father/daughter team (played broadly by toothy Donny Osmond and manic Molly Ephraim) that crosses their paths more than once, and, of course, an accidentally crashed wedding. When I saw the pig on the cover, I made bets with my pal that there would be either a pig burp or fart joke, plus there would be a scene where someone would get some sort of goo or gross matter dumped on their head (for the record, both happen around minute 35:00).
The curious thing about the harmless and pleasant College Road Trip is that I’m not sure who the target audience is. The kids will recognize and enjoy star Raven-Symoné, but she is getting to the age where she probably wants to be seen as more of an adult than a kid (as there are a couple handsome love-interest types thrown in). The movie is too tame for Martin Lawrence’s regular fans, as well as older teens who actually will be going off to college and leaving the nest. The audience who will enjoy it the most is the younger set, but the movie will probably end up resonating more with those kids’ parents, who dread the day when their baby grows up and leaves home.
DVD NOTES
The DVD of College Road Trip is chock full of extras, as is Disney’s forte. There is a full-on music video of the catchy “Double Dutch Bus” performed by Raven-Symoné, plus a gag reel showing the actors busting up on camera, deleted scenes, a video diary by Raven-Symoné, and two audio commentaries with the director, Raven-Symoné, and the writers.
