Are We There Yet?

Honestly my little sister dragged me into the cinema to watch this movie. However I did not expect to enjoy it this much even considered it as hidden gem. It won me over with the humor, characters, their developments and abstruse situation. Also I do not know what critics expected here. I fully admit that this is not like the Godfather, Schindler's List or other the other great Oscar movies but as mixture of a road-trip, comedy and family movie it does not even try or need to be like those. For me it was entertaining, the humor is working really good and has also a bit of things to make you think about what family / relationships are and how to be a good parent. It is the story of Nick Persons and Suzanne Kingston with her kids. Suzanne is divorced from the father of her kids but her 13 year old daughter Lindsey and her 7 year old son Kevin believe they will get back together and sabotage all dating attempts of their mother for years (Not even subtle by the way). Nick is a collector and seller of sport fan articles and collectibles who meets Suzanne by accident and is attracted to her. I stop it here to avoid spoilers but you can see with the set up and title the direction of the movie. It is not inventing the wheel with its story. However it is entertaining and the humor and actors make it a great movie so I was never bored. Also there is character development and like the characters evolve you get to think about the same things they reevaluate. This is depth I did not expect and a welcome addition. The humor is spot on and I like the situation, twists and development. The actors were the main point that won me over. I don't care what the critics say here. Ice Cube as Nick Person was amazing and I was positively impressed by his strong performance. Nia Long as Suzanne Kingston was excellent even when she has smaller screentime than the others. The kids with Aleisha Allen and Phillip Daniel Bolden were spot on and deliver their roles remarkably. Their good chemistry won me over and I praise all of the cast. I think I don't need to talk about special effects, the soundtrack or other aspects as it is neither a misstep nor a focus. Overall this was a positive surprise and I give a 10/10 as this is underrated here on Metacritic. Even without this I would give at least an 8/10. Don't expect a masterpiece or all time classic and see it as good entertainment. Bonus knowledge: Satchel Paige is no fictional character and definitely someone you should look up (both ways aka read about and take as role model). He was a baseball player for 5 decades, hall of famer and faced racism / segregation for most of his carer making his debut at the Major League at the for an athlete biblical age of 42 because of this.

Pretty good movie. I expected it to be about a 3, but the movie was funny! I saw it with my daughters, and it was pleasantly surprising. We all enjoyed it, and it had a heartwarming ending. Don't be fooled- watch the movie with your kids, and you'll be entertained. btw, the acting was pretty good. the fake crying from the boy needed some work, but all in all- they all were good actors.