Time-guzzler

R.V.
Columbia Pictures presents a Barry Sonnenfeld film, starring Robin Williams. Written by Geoff Rodkey. 98m. PG for crude humor, innuendo and language.

1.5 stars

Once again proving that a seminal comedy can’t be rehashed into dozens of poor imitations, “R.V.” provides a modern, but ultimately unsatisfactory, update to “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

Our new Griswolds are the Munros, a group of elitist, self-absorbed materialists whose family dynamic is so damaged, they’ve come to rely on their computers to communicate with each other.

The dialogue lines are so frayed that Bob (Robin Williams) doesn’t dare tell his family that his snooty boss (Will Arnett) is considering downsizing him for a cheaper, younger model. In fact, his big opportunity to stay in the company’s good graces is at merger talks in Colorado, which happens to conflict with the family’s Hawaiian getaway.

Bob’s plan, which was obviously hatched under duress, is to pack his family into a recreational vehicle and make the 30-hour odyssey to the pitch session, all under the guise of family bonding. His wife, Jamie (Cheryl Hines), balks at the revised itinerary; after all, renting an R.V. constitutes staying overnight in R.V. parks.

“We’re not friendly people,” she points out, as if her rampant nihilism wasn’t sufficient proof.

Their silver-spoon existences also don’t prepare them for a range of R.V.-related chores, like disposing raw sewage into a park’s holding vat. I can’t remember a single movie in which fetishizing the scatological has actually improved the film’s appeal, although I’ve written about it accomplishing the reverse several times before.

Writer Geoff Rodkey apparently can’t trump up the hick factor of recreational vehicles without dousing somebody in the fecal matter of a stranger, and apparently, Robin Williams wasn’t satisfied with disgracing himself in just “Death to Smoochy.”

That’s not to say Williams can’t be funny in the poo-free moments. His range of impressions and one-offs gives an otherwise humorless comedy an occasional glimpse of charm.

The comedian is even ably assisted by Jeff Daniels, who plays the patriarch of a full-time R.V. family which just can’t get enough of the Munros. They’re like friendly stalkers, trying to lull their new friends with group songs, obnoxiously friendly car horns, and homestyle cuisine.

In many ways, the Gornicke family is the more intriguing unit, perhaps because the film takes great pains to paint them in one certain light before revealing the exact opposite as the truth.

Naturally, the Munros’ faux vacation has to be discovered for what it really is, although Bob makes a good effort to conceal his ulterior motives. This culminates in a scene we find rarely in real life, but frequently in the movies. The family’s immediate ire at being deceived quickly fades, replaced with primal pangs to defend Bob the breadwinner.

Of course, Bob’s growing disillusionment about his callous corporation will lead to a predictable, yet appealing, detour when he considers how to solicit the homegrown juice company for his company’s soda-centric empire. These moments are Bob’s first real opportunities to be honest, which is more appealing than a million slapstick routines hemmed together.

I found enjoyment least in the places where the humor was painstakingly telegraphed and more during moments when the family recalled what they enjoyed about each other.

While Robin Williams thrives no matter the quality of the material, his on-screen wife Cheryl Hines doesn’t fare as well as his straight man. On “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” I find her continual disappointment thematically appropriate, because Larry David is unashamedly a jerk. But in “R.V.” it plays as unattractively arrogant. Ditto for Will Arnett, whose idiotic detachment from any semblance of altruism was the best reason to tune into the fledgling “Arrested Development.” But that same strain of narcissism comes off a bit too icy in “R.V.” for real laughs.

With the critical mass of spring entertainment on the near horizon and the frightening price of admission these days, I’d recommend waiting until its video release to fill up on this “R.V.”