Are We Done Yet?

Summary

Are We Done Yet? is a 2007 American family comedy film directed by Steve Carr and starring Ice Cube.[2] The film is a remake of the 1948 Cary Grant comedy film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, previously remade as the 1986 Tom Hanks comedy film The Money Pit, and a sequel to the 2005 film Are We There Yet? The screenplay is by Hank Nelken. It was produced by Revolution Studios and RKO Pictures and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Are We Done Yet?
A confused man balanced at the top of a ladder, his wife and two children standing below. The film title in large red lettering at the bottom of the ladder.
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteve Carr
Screenplay byHank Nelken
Story byHank Nelken
Based onMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
by Melvin Frank
Norman Panama
Characters
by Steven Gary Banks
Claudia Grazioso
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJack N. Green
Edited byCraig P. Herring
Music byTeddy Castellucci
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • April 4, 2007 (2007-04-04)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$28 million[citation needed]
Box office$58.4 million[1]

The film was shot on location in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada, but is set in Newberg, Oregon, United States.

Plot edit

Two years after the events of the first film, Nick Persons has married Suzanne and moved her children, Kevin and Lindsey into his apartment, as well as purchasing a 2007 Cadillac Escalade after he accidentally burnt up his Lincoln Navigator SUV. He has also sold his sports memorabilia store to his friend, Marty.

The family has also bought a Berger Picard pet dog and named it Coco. Kevin and Lindsey have both matured since the previous events. While getting ready for an interview with Magic Johnson to launch a sports magazine, Suzanne tells Nick that she is pregnant and they later find out that they will be having twins. Needing more space, Suzanne and Nick go check out a house in the suburbs.

They meet Chuck Mitchell Jr., an eccentric local real estate agent/contractor, and after some talking, Nick decides to buy the house. The family then packs up their things and moves into the house, with Lindsey and Kevin (mostly the former) being against the move. However, as it turns out, Nick failed to get the house inspected first, and they soon find a mold infestation. While trying to resolve the mold issue, Chuck discovers even more problems with the house, and Nick becomes angry with him as he almost destroys it trying to fix them all.

Meanwhile, Lindsey sneaks out to go to a party with Chuck's teenage employees, and when Nick finds out, he grounds her. Nick finally decides to fire Chuck, which causes all those working on the house to quit out of loyalty to Chuck, and Suzanne to take the kids and move into the guest house. After taking some time to think, Nick decides to fix the house on his own and also to apologize to Chuck, especially when he was told that his wife, a famous country singer, died a few years ago. Chuck responds by bringing his friends back to help.

When Suzanne goes into labor, with the hospital half-an-hour away, Nick, Kevin, and Lindsey have to deliver the babies. Chuck tries to get there, but his truck breaks down and he is forced to power walk down to the house. While she's still in labor, Nick gets a call from Magic Johnson. After Suzanne gives birth to identical twin boys, the movie ends six months later with a big BBQ in their backyard, at which Nick debuts his new magazine titled Are We Done Yet?, based on his experience building the house.

Cast edit

Production edit

The film is a remake of the 1948 Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House and produced by Ted Hartley of RKO Pictures.[3]

Release edit

The film made $58.4 million worldwide.[1] The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2007, and opened on #3, behind Oceans Thirteen and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.[4]

Reception edit

Like its predecessor, Are We Done Yet? was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 8% based on 92 reviews, and has an average rating of 2.81/10. The site's consensus reads: "Are We Done Yet? plays it way too safe with generic slapstick and uninspired domestic foibles."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a higher score than its predecessor's, at 36 out of 100, based on 21 reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable reviews".[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

Neil Smith for BBC.com gave the film 1 out of 5 stars and wrote: "McGinley, as it happens, is the film's only trump card, his madcap multi tasker stealing every scene he's in and leaving the movie's nominal star for dead."[8] In one of the few positive reviews, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade B, and praises McGinley and calls Ice Cube's performance "strangely charming". Rabin concludes: "It isn't gangsta, but it's winning all the same."[9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Are We Done Yet? (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  2. ^ Schager, Nick (March 29, 2007). "Are We Done Yet?". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  3. ^ Fleming, Michael (9 February 2006). "Cube's 'House' renovated". Variety.
  4. ^ "Weekend box office 8th June 2007 - 10th June 2007". www.25thframe.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "Are We Done Yet? (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Are We Done Yet? Reviews". Metacritic. April 3, 2007. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  8. ^ Neil Smith (Jun 6, 2007). "BBC - Movies - review - Are We Done Yet?". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  9. ^ Rabin, Nathan (April 7, 2007). "Are We Done Yet?". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.

External links edit