COLLEGE ROAD TRIP

US, 2008, 83 minutes, Colour.
Martin Lawrence, Raven Symone.
Directed by Roger Kumble.

This is a G-rated Disney film for audiences of the Disney Channel (where Raven-Symone? has been a child star and has her own series) and those who enjoyed High School Musical films. (It is probably safe to say that those who do not enjoy Disney Channel movies and series will find this comedy too basic, too sentimental, too predictable). On the other hand, if you are in a good mood, it is lightly amusing, though there are reservations about the amount of teenage girl screaming that goes on when friends get together, go on trips or have sleepovers.

And then there is Martin Lawrence. And then there is Donny Osmond.

Martin Lawrence plays a devoted father who thinks he is the model of love, care and communication but who is really a control freak who can’t see that his daughter (Raven- Symone) is 17 and on her way to college (the college where he wants her to go, not far from home). When she gets an offer of a place at prestigious Georgetown and wants to go with her girlfriends for her interview, Daddy insists on taking her (and her precocious stowaway brother who has secret plans for technology for the State Department and is accompanied by his chess-playing, toilet-trained (almost) pig friend, Albert).

Of course, most things that can go wrong, do go wrong, including car breakdown, travelling on a bus with Asian tourists, completely destroying a wedding party (well, the pig started it) and Dad finishing up in jail for trespassing at the sorority house. Of course, all things that can go right, do go right, including getting to the interview one minute ahead of time (after father and daughter sky dive into Georgetown, their first jump!). And reconciliation all round.

And Donny Osmond. He portrays an impossibly cheerful American ultra-extravert father whose daughter is a chip off the old block (and so is Mum when we finally see her). They have the habit of breaking into songs from musicals at every cheerful moment (when they off a lift ‘Getting to Know You; when they leave, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehn, Adieu etc).

But Donny Osmond does get the final joke of the film which is a good one that sums up the heavily portrayed lesson about parents letting children grow up and be themselves.