Are We There Yet? (film)

Are We There Yet? is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Brian Levant. It was written by Steven Gary Banks, Claudia Grazioso, J. David Stem, and David N. Weiss based on a story by Banks and Grazioso. Ice Cube stars alongside an ensemble cast featuring Nia Long, Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden, Jay Mohr, and Tracy Morgan.

Produced by Revolution Studios and distributed by Columbia Pictures, the film was released theatrically on January 21, 2005, to generally negative reviews from critics surveyed by Metacritic. The film grossed $98 million worldwide and sold 3.7 million DVDs. A sequel, Are We Done Yet?, was released in 2007, and a television series featuring the film's main characters premiered in 2010.

Plot
Children Lindsey and Kevin Kingston sabotage the relationships of their divorced mother, determined to keep her single until their parents reconcile. Nick Persons, a child-hating businessman, purchases an expensive SUV and boasts with his beloved bobble-head of Satchel Paige, who comes to life at its own will – though only Nick can see or hear him. When he reaches his shop, he witnesses the woman of his dreams, Suzanne Kingston. On his way to talk to her, he is disgusted to find she has two kids, Lindsey and Kevin.

Later that night, Nick runs into Suzanne on his way home, asking for a jump start because her car has broken down. After receiving an electric shock, he agrees to take her home, and once there, agrees to transport her wherever she needs to go. On New Year's Eve, he brings her to an airport to go to Vancouver for a business meeting, but her ex-husband calls to say he is sick and cannot bring the children to the airport, leaving her to put her trust in Nick.

Once at her house, he meets Kevin and Lindsey for the second time and gives them "gifts" (a pizza coupon for Lindsey and a corkscrew for Kevin). They go to the airport to park, where Kevin accidentally damages Nick's car door. Nick yells at Kevin, making him cry. Inside the airport, Nick is tackled by security after Kevin ditches the corkscrew in Nick's jacket pocket. After taking a train instead, the two kids jump off to collect a toy just as Nick boards, forcing him to jump off and land unsafely. When they lose their luggage, they reluctantly drive.

Believing Nick is only their mother's friend, the kids are tamed but still misbehave and show Nick no respect. At a truck stop, the two learn that Nick not only hates them, but also lied about not having feelings for their mother. They show less restraint and cause mayhem throughout the trip, hijacking Nick's car by having Kevin fake an asthmatic attack, injuring Nick in the testicles with a plastic axe, signalling to truck driver Al Buck that they have been kidnapped (which results in heavy damage to Nick's car, much to his horror), and ultimately running away to visit their father. Nick pursues them on a horse but falls off.

Once they arrive, they learn their father has not only moved on but has a new family. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, they warm up to Nick, as he does with them; Nick tells them his father also abandoned him. Along the rest of the trip, the three still find themselves in several mishaps, but each setback only strengthens their relationship. At one point, Kevin has to get an asthma refill from a pharmacist working as a clown at a chaotic children's New Year's Eve party, and during this, Lindsey reveals her singing talent. Their bond is ultimately tested when Nick's car is inadvertently set ablaze and explodes after Nick loses his keys and tries to hotwire it. Nick angrily blames the kids but calms down and apologizes immediately afterwards.

The trio tries to hitch a ride from Al Buck, but he leaves Nick behind and drives off, still thinking Nick is a kidnapper. To Al's surprise, the kids physically attack him in the van, leading to a chase that ends when in Vancouver, where Nick fights Al, along with several men dressed as snowmen. During the fight, Kevin has an asthma attack and collapses. Nick rushes to his aid and revives him. Witnessing the event, Suzanne believes trusting Nick was a mistake. After encouragement from Satchel, Nick goes to Suzanne's hotel to tell her and the kids farewell for good. After Suzanne realizes how much Nick and the kids have grown to care for each other, Suzanne realizes that Nick is the one for her, and they kiss on New Year's Eve during the fireworks at Lindsey's suggestion.

Cast

 * Ice Cube as Nicholas "Nick" Persons, a smooth-talking, child-hating bachelor
 * Nia Long as Suzanne Kingston, a divorced single mother
 * Aleisha Allen as Lindsey Kingston, Suzanne's bratty, clever, and antagonistic 11-year-old daughter
 * Philip Daniel Bolden as Kevin Kingston, Suzanne's asthmatic, immature son and Lindsey's seven-year-old brother
 * Jay Mohr as Marty, Nick's best friend
 * M. C. Gainey as Al Buck (known as "Big Al"), a well-meaning truck driver who stalks Nick throughout the film in an effort to "rescue" the kids, as he mistakenly believes that Nick has kidnapped them
 * Tracy Morgan as Satchel Paige bobblehead (voice), Nick's prized possession and confidante, who speaks to him through his conscience
 * David Barclay as Satchel Page bobblehead (puppeteer)
 * C. Ernst Harth as Ernst, a truck driver who tries to help Nick save the kids from Big Al, but fails after Big Al crashes his truck
 * Nichelle Nichols as Miss Mable, Kevin and Lindsey's babysitter
 * Sean Millington as Frank Kingston, Kevin and Lindsey's father and Suzanne's ex-husband, who abandoned his family some time before the events of the film
 * Henry Simmons as Carl, Suzanne's date who was scared off by Kevin and Lindsay

Production
Are We There Yet? was filmed in Sea-to-Sky Corridor, the Vancouver International Airport (disguised as Portland International Airport), and Portland. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver. The highway by the shoreline on the way to Whistler Mountain is the Sea-to-Sky Highway. The suspension bridge is actually the Lions Gate Bridge, above Stanley Park, and they drive over one of the many bridges that connect downtown with the southern part of the city. Ice Cube stated on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that this film was originally intended as an Adam Sandler vehicle.

The scene at the truck stop and the restaurant (actually called Galileo Coffee) after the kids saw their father in the window was filmed in Britannia Beach. The chase at the end where the truck chase was filmed on the Cambie Street Bridge and Dunsmuir St. between Howe and Burrard Station. The train featured in the film is Via Rail. In reality, Via Rail travels only in Canada. The Amtrak route is the Amtrak Cascades which goes through Seattle. The Pacific Central Station is in Vancouver.

The movie was filmed from November 17, 2003 up to February 22, 2004.

Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 11% of 116 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This supposed family comedy starring the usually blameless Ice Cube and Nia Long has provoked most critics to write, Is it over yet?" On Metacritic, the film has a score of 27 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Box office
The film opened at #1, with a gross of $18.6 million in 2,709 theaters averaging $6,856 per venue. The film's opening weekend made up 22.57% of its final domestic gross. In its second weekend, the film dropped to #2 but lost just 12% of its audience, grossing a further $16.3 million, and raised the ten day total to $38.5 million. It closed on June 16, 2005, with a final gross of $97.9 million worldwide ($82.7 million in North America and $15.2 million internationally). The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2005, and opened on #6 within the first weekend. The next weekend, the film moved up one place, then down back to #6, before finally ending up on #13 on March 25, 2005.

Awards and nominations

 * BMI Music Film Award
 * 2005 Teen Choice Awards: Choice Movie – Comedy (nominated, lost to Napoleon Dynamite)
 * 2006 Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Movie (nominated, lost to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Television series
In 2010, Are We There Yet? premiered on TBS. The show's executive producer and creator is Ice Cube, who created and starred in the film adaptation. All of the roles from the film series are recast. Terry Crews, who previously worked with Cube in Friday After Next and Lottery Ticket, takes over the role of Nick and Essence Atkins, who was in Dance Flick and Smart Guy, takes over Nia Long's role as Suzanne. The only actor from the film series to return for the television series is Ice Cube, who stars in a recurring role as Suzanne's brother, Terrence.