This review was written for the theatrical release of "Are We Done Yet?"
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in "Are We Done Yet?" which essentially takes the "Are We There Yet?" characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those "Cheaper by the Dozen" remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's ("Scrubs" regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's "Next Friday", and adapted by Hank Nelken ("Saving Silverman"), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn "Citizen Kane" into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in "Are We Done Yet?" which essentially takes the "Are We There Yet?" characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those "Cheaper by the Dozen" remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's ("Scrubs" regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's "Next Friday", and adapted by Hank Nelken ("Saving Silverman"), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn "Citizen Kane" into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in Are We Done Yet? which essentially takes the Are We There Yet? characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those Cheaper by the Dozen remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's (Scrubs regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's Next Friday, and adapted by Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn Citizen Kane into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those Cheaper by the Dozen remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's (Scrubs regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's Next Friday, and adapted by Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn Citizen Kane into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Martin Lawrence takes the inevitable Eddie Murphy-Vin Diesel career turn in 20th Century Fox's predictable yet passably entertaining "Rebound". Aimed squarely at young squirts who in the past could only dream of sneaking into one of his raunchier movies, this by-the-playbook kids-sports vehicle presents Lawrence as an outwardly tough guy mellowed by a bunch of 13-year-old kids on the verge of puberty. Business should be merely fair because there is little of the gross-out qualities or edgy adult situations required to attract older teens.
Lawrence's character, Roy McCormick, is no music mogul -- he just acts, dresses and lives like one, with bodyguards, a black Cadillac SUV, expensive suits and shades of a Sean "P. Diddy" Combs or Jay-Z. He's actually an arrogant big-time college basketball coach. At the start of director Steve Carr's ("Daddy Day Care") family comedy, Roy throws one temper tantrum too many and promptly gets banned for life from the league.
Roy and his small-time agent, Tim Fink (Breckin Meyer), face unemployment until kids from Roy's own Mount Vernon Junior High fax him a scribbled request to rescue their pathetic basketball team, coached by teacher Mr. Newirth (Horatio Sanz). Curiously, little is made throughout the screenplay by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of the star coach being back at his alma mater.
Keith Ellis (Oren Williams) is the leader (read: hotshot) of the inept team of misfits, and he naturally has a hot yet doting single mom, Jeanie Wendy Raquel Robinson), who teaches at the school. Jeanie warns the ethically challenged Roy from the outset that she's keeping her eye on him. Of course, Roy has eyes for no-nonsense Jeanie as well. Parents in the audience can count the cliches while waiting for Roy to develop into Cosby-esque father material.
Practices and games, in which Roy's Smelters are typically outscored as if they were playing an NBA franchise, should be fun for young viewers. These are actually quite brief, as is, for that matter every scene, and thus the entire film. All of this, plus Roy's morality life lessons, makes "Rebound" resemble an extended version of a wholesome television sitcom.
The youngsters' performances are all acceptable but not much more, as the stereotypes they portray pretty much defeat them. There is a boy who is very tall but uncoordinated, one who constantly vomits and one who is a tough girl. The best young thespian is Steven Christopher Parker as the towering nerd Wes.
Other small supporting roles are filled by Megan Mullally as the cynical school principal and Patrick Warburton as a testosterone-filled rival coach. Laura Kightlinger turns up in a cameo.
Lawrence won't disappoint his fans, who no doubt will revel in his brief, second role as Preacher Don, a slick gold-toothed man of the cloth -- purple cloth suit and fedora, that is -- who delivers a barely intelligible "pep talk" while resembling a ghetto pimp.
The soundtrack includes pop tunes ranging from Paul Anka to Outkast. If only "Rebound"'s story had a similar range.
REBOUND
20th Century Fox
A Robert Simonds/Runteldat production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriters: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Story: William Wolff, Ed Decter & John J. Strauss
Producer: Robert Simonds
Executive producers: Martin Lawrence, Tracey Trench, Heidi Santelli, Paul Deason
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Jaymes Hinkle
Editor: Craig Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Costume designer: Salvador Perez
Cast:
Roy/Preacher Don: Martin Lawrence
Jeanie: Wendy Raquel Robinson
Tim: Breckin Meyer
Mr. Newirth: Horatio Sanz
Keith: Oren Williams
Larry Sr.: Patrick Warburton
Principal Walsh: Megan Mullally
One Love: Eddy Martin
Wes: Steven Christopher Parker
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
Lawrence's character, Roy McCormick, is no music mogul -- he just acts, dresses and lives like one, with bodyguards, a black Cadillac SUV, expensive suits and shades of a Sean "P. Diddy" Combs or Jay-Z. He's actually an arrogant big-time college basketball coach. At the start of director Steve Carr's ("Daddy Day Care") family comedy, Roy throws one temper tantrum too many and promptly gets banned for life from the league.
Roy and his small-time agent, Tim Fink (Breckin Meyer), face unemployment until kids from Roy's own Mount Vernon Junior High fax him a scribbled request to rescue their pathetic basketball team, coached by teacher Mr. Newirth (Horatio Sanz). Curiously, little is made throughout the screenplay by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of the star coach being back at his alma mater.
Keith Ellis (Oren Williams) is the leader (read: hotshot) of the inept team of misfits, and he naturally has a hot yet doting single mom, Jeanie Wendy Raquel Robinson), who teaches at the school. Jeanie warns the ethically challenged Roy from the outset that she's keeping her eye on him. Of course, Roy has eyes for no-nonsense Jeanie as well. Parents in the audience can count the cliches while waiting for Roy to develop into Cosby-esque father material.
Practices and games, in which Roy's Smelters are typically outscored as if they were playing an NBA franchise, should be fun for young viewers. These are actually quite brief, as is, for that matter every scene, and thus the entire film. All of this, plus Roy's morality life lessons, makes "Rebound" resemble an extended version of a wholesome television sitcom.
The youngsters' performances are all acceptable but not much more, as the stereotypes they portray pretty much defeat them. There is a boy who is very tall but uncoordinated, one who constantly vomits and one who is a tough girl. The best young thespian is Steven Christopher Parker as the towering nerd Wes.
Other small supporting roles are filled by Megan Mullally as the cynical school principal and Patrick Warburton as a testosterone-filled rival coach. Laura Kightlinger turns up in a cameo.
Lawrence won't disappoint his fans, who no doubt will revel in his brief, second role as Preacher Don, a slick gold-toothed man of the cloth -- purple cloth suit and fedora, that is -- who delivers a barely intelligible "pep talk" while resembling a ghetto pimp.
The soundtrack includes pop tunes ranging from Paul Anka to Outkast. If only "Rebound"'s story had a similar range.
REBOUND
20th Century Fox
A Robert Simonds/Runteldat production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriters: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Story: William Wolff, Ed Decter & John J. Strauss
Producer: Robert Simonds
Executive producers: Martin Lawrence, Tracey Trench, Heidi Santelli, Paul Deason
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Jaymes Hinkle
Editor: Craig Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Costume designer: Salvador Perez
Cast:
Roy/Preacher Don: Martin Lawrence
Jeanie: Wendy Raquel Robinson
Tim: Breckin Meyer
Mr. Newirth: Horatio Sanz
Keith: Oren Williams
Larry Sr.: Patrick Warburton
Principal Walsh: Megan Mullally
One Love: Eddy Martin
Wes: Steven Christopher Parker
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
Martin Lawrence takes the inevitable Eddie Murphy-Vin Diesel career turn in 20th Century Fox's predictable yet passably entertaining "Rebound". Aimed squarely at young squirts who in the past could only dream of sneaking into one of his raunchier movies, this by-the-playbook kids-sports vehicle presents Lawrence as an outwardly tough guy mellowed by a bunch of 13-year-old kids on the verge of puberty. Business should be merely fair because there is little of the gross-out qualities or edgy adult situations required to attract older teens.
Lawrence's character, Roy McCormick, is no music mogul -- he just acts, dresses and lives like one, with bodyguards, a black Cadillac SUV, expensive suits and shades of a Sean "P. Diddy" Combs or Jay-Z. He's actually an arrogant big-time college basketball coach. At the start of director Steve Carr's ("Daddy Day Care") family comedy, Roy throws one temper tantrum too many and promptly gets banned for life from the league.
Roy and his small-time agent, Tim Fink (Breckin Meyer), face unemployment until kids from Roy's own Mount Vernon Junior High fax him a scribbled request to rescue their pathetic basketball team, coached by teacher Mr. Newirth (Horatio Sanz). Curiously, little is made throughout the screenplay by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of the star coach being back at his alma mater.
Keith Ellis (Oren Williams) is the leader (read: hotshot) of the inept team of misfits, and he naturally has a hot yet doting single mom, Jeanie Wendy Raquel Robinson), who teaches at the school. Jeanie warns the ethically challenged Roy from the outset that she's keeping her eye on him. Of course, Roy has eyes for no-nonsense Jeanie as well. Parents in the audience can count the cliches while waiting for Roy to develop into Cosby-esque father material.
Practices and games, in which Roy's Smelters are typically outscored as if they were playing an NBA franchise, should be fun for young viewers. These are actually quite brief, as is, for that matter every scene, and thus the entire film. All of this, plus Roy's morality life lessons, makes "Rebound" resemble an extended version of a wholesome television sitcom.
The youngsters' performances are all acceptable but not much more, as the stereotypes they portray pretty much defeat them. There is a boy who is very tall but uncoordinated, one who constantly vomits and one who is a tough girl. The best young thespian is Steven Christopher Parker as the towering nerd Wes.
Other small supporting roles are filled by Megan Mullally as the cynical school principal and Patrick Warburton as a testosterone-filled rival coach. Laura Kightlinger turns up in a cameo.
Lawrence won't disappoint his fans, who no doubt will revel in his brief, second role as Preacher Don, a slick gold-toothed man of the cloth -- purple cloth suit and fedora, that is -- who delivers a barely intelligible "pep talk" while resembling a ghetto pimp.
The soundtrack includes pop tunes ranging from Paul Anka to Outkast. If only "Rebound"'s story had a similar range.
REBOUND
20th Century Fox
A Robert Simonds/Runteldat production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriters: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Story: William Wolff, Ed Decter & John J. Strauss
Producer: Robert Simonds
Executive producers: Martin Lawrence, Tracey Trench, Heidi Santelli, Paul Deason
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Jaymes Hinkle
Editor: Craig Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Costume designer: Salvador Perez
Cast:
Roy/Preacher Don: Martin Lawrence
Jeanie: Wendy Raquel Robinson
Tim: Breckin Meyer
Mr. Newirth: Horatio Sanz
Keith: Oren Williams
Larry Sr.: Patrick Warburton
Principal Walsh: Megan Mullally
One Love: Eddy Martin
Wes: Steven Christopher Parker
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
Lawrence's character, Roy McCormick, is no music mogul -- he just acts, dresses and lives like one, with bodyguards, a black Cadillac SUV, expensive suits and shades of a Sean "P. Diddy" Combs or Jay-Z. He's actually an arrogant big-time college basketball coach. At the start of director Steve Carr's ("Daddy Day Care") family comedy, Roy throws one temper tantrum too many and promptly gets banned for life from the league.
Roy and his small-time agent, Tim Fink (Breckin Meyer), face unemployment until kids from Roy's own Mount Vernon Junior High fax him a scribbled request to rescue their pathetic basketball team, coached by teacher Mr. Newirth (Horatio Sanz). Curiously, little is made throughout the screenplay by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of the star coach being back at his alma mater.
Keith Ellis (Oren Williams) is the leader (read: hotshot) of the inept team of misfits, and he naturally has a hot yet doting single mom, Jeanie Wendy Raquel Robinson), who teaches at the school. Jeanie warns the ethically challenged Roy from the outset that she's keeping her eye on him. Of course, Roy has eyes for no-nonsense Jeanie as well. Parents in the audience can count the cliches while waiting for Roy to develop into Cosby-esque father material.
Practices and games, in which Roy's Smelters are typically outscored as if they were playing an NBA franchise, should be fun for young viewers. These are actually quite brief, as is, for that matter every scene, and thus the entire film. All of this, plus Roy's morality life lessons, makes "Rebound" resemble an extended version of a wholesome television sitcom.
The youngsters' performances are all acceptable but not much more, as the stereotypes they portray pretty much defeat them. There is a boy who is very tall but uncoordinated, one who constantly vomits and one who is a tough girl. The best young thespian is Steven Christopher Parker as the towering nerd Wes.
Other small supporting roles are filled by Megan Mullally as the cynical school principal and Patrick Warburton as a testosterone-filled rival coach. Laura Kightlinger turns up in a cameo.
Lawrence won't disappoint his fans, who no doubt will revel in his brief, second role as Preacher Don, a slick gold-toothed man of the cloth -- purple cloth suit and fedora, that is -- who delivers a barely intelligible "pep talk" while resembling a ghetto pimp.
The soundtrack includes pop tunes ranging from Paul Anka to Outkast. If only "Rebound"'s story had a similar range.
REBOUND
20th Century Fox
A Robert Simonds/Runteldat production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriters: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore
Story: William Wolff, Ed Decter & John J. Strauss
Producer: Robert Simonds
Executive producers: Martin Lawrence, Tracey Trench, Heidi Santelli, Paul Deason
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Jaymes Hinkle
Editor: Craig Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Costume designer: Salvador Perez
Cast:
Roy/Preacher Don: Martin Lawrence
Jeanie: Wendy Raquel Robinson
Tim: Breckin Meyer
Mr. Newirth: Horatio Sanz
Keith: Oren Williams
Larry Sr.: Patrick Warburton
Principal Walsh: Megan Mullally
One Love: Eddy Martin
Wes: Steven Christopher Parker
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
Megan Mullally and Breckin Meyer have been tapped to join the Martin Lawrence starrer Rage Control for 20th Century Fox and the Robert Simonds Co. The Steve Carr-directed film will star Lawrence as a legendary college basketball coach who, after a public meltdown, is forced to coach a losing junior high school team. Mullally will play the principal of the junior high whose team Lawrence is coaching, while Meyer will star as the agent of Lawrence's character. Kimora Lee Simmons, who recently wrapped a role in MGM's Beauty Shop, also has joined the cast as a reporter who gives the coach a hard time throughout the movie. Patrick Warburton rounds out the cast. Robert Simonds is producing the project, and Tracey Trench serves as executive producer along with Carr's producing partner Heidi Santelli. At the studio, the project is overseen by TCF division topper Hutch Parker along with Emma Watts. Mullally is repped by the Gersh Agency and Handprint Entertainment. Meyer is repped by the Gersh Agency and Brillstein-Grey. He next stars in Fox's Garfield: The Movie.
Patrick Warburton is set to star opposite Martin Lawrence in 20th Century Fox's Rage Control. Warburton will play Larry Burgess, a junior high school basketball coach who has one of the best teams in the league. When coach Roy McCormick (Martin Lawrence) is suspended from college ball for attacking a referee, he is forced to coach a junior high team that is desperate to beat Burgess' team. Steve Carr is directing, with Robert Simonds producing. Tracey Trench serves as executive producer alongside Carr's producing partner, Heidi Santelli. Warburton's credits include the television series Less Than Perfect and Seinfeld and the feature films Men in Black II and Joe Somebody and the upcoming Bob Steel, First Time Caller. He's also voicing the character of Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove II. Warburton is repped by Paradigm and managed by Delores Robinson.
- 5/12/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steve Carr has been tapped to direct the Martin Lawrence vehicle Rage Control for 20th Century Fox and the Robert Simonds Co. With Carr now on board, the project is gearing up for an April start, sources said. Originally developed at DreamWorks by newly installed head of production Adam Goodman, Rage Control will star Lawrence as a legendary college basketball coach who, after a public meltdown, is forced to coach a losing junior varsity team. The most current revisions on the script were done by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Robert Simonds is producing the project, with Tracey Trench serving as executive producer along with Carr's producing partner Heidi Santelli. At the studio, the project is being overseen by TCF division topper Hutch Parker along with Emma Watts. Carr is repped by WMA, Nine Yards Entertainment's Aaron Ray and attorney Karl Austen. He most recently directed Daddy Day Care and Dr. Dolittle 2, both of which topped the $100 million mark. Simonds' most recent producing effort was the Steve Martin starrer Cheaper by the Dozen. The Fox family film opened during the recent holiday season and went on to top the $130 million mark.
- 2/19/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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