College Road Trip

Rating G Formats Blu-Ray, DVD Genre comedy Starring Raven-Symoné, Martin Lawrence, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond Directed by Michael Landes Publisher Walt Disney Video

You know the feeling: senior year in high school, applying for colleges, and you’re just itching for that first taste of freedom.  In College Road Trip, Melanie Porter is in the same position. She is an extremely intelligent student with her sights set on going to Georgetown.  Melaine is excited to go visit various colleges with her two friends, Nancy and Katie.  What could make the trip any better?  Melaine’s strict dad, Chief James Porter, is coming along and does not want to see his baby girl leave him.  Better yet, he changes the girls’ Philadelphia road trip, and surprises them with his own road trip to Washington D.C.

Melanie and her father struggle throughout the trip.  She wants to be seen and treated as a young-adult, while he still sees her as his little girl.  When their car breaks down, Melanie and James come across Doug (Donny Osmond) and Wendy (Molly Ephraim), a content father and daughter.  Melanie and James try to sort out their differences and bond throughout the trip, attempting to get past their problems.

If my synopsis sounds cheesy, then I did my duty.  I could recommend this movie to families, since it’s hard this day to find family-friendly movies.  However, I’m not sure if anyone over five years old could tolerate the “acting” in this movie and predictability of the “plot.”  Honestly save yourself the 83 minutes and rent Babe or Shrek if you’re looking for a movie the whole family will enjoy.