GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Johnson Family Vacation
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Johnson Family Vacation reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 29 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
2.3 out of 10
based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexual references, crude humor and brief drug material

Starring Cedric the Entertainer, Lil' Bow Wow, Shannon Elizabeth, Steve Harvey, Vanessa L. Williams, Solange Knowles, Gabby Soleil, and Shari Headley

Nate Johnson (Cedric the Entertainer) sets out on a cross-country trek from California to Missouri, with three unruly kids and one unsatisfied wife in tow, in order to attend the Johnson clan's annual reunion/grudge match. Not since the Griswolds headed to California has a family excursion veered so hysterically astray. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)


GENRE(S): Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: Todd R. Jones
Earl Richey Jones
 
DIRECTED BY: Christopher Erskin  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: August 10, 2004 
Video: August 10, 2004 
Theatrical: April 7, 2004 
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

60
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
An easygoing, earthy comedy that's a good showcase for the robust comic gifts of Cedric the Entertainer.
Read Full Review
50
USA Today Claudia Puig
Too bad first-time director Christopher Erskin, who cut his teeth on music videos and commercials, took so many predictable turns on this Vacation.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie itself is genial and unfocused and tired.
Read Full Review
50
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
I'd like to believe I could watch ­Cedric the Entertainer all day long. The tedious comedy Johnson Family Vacation puts a strain on that theory.
Read Full Review
50
The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Mild in both humor and impact, this well-cast comedy should provide welcome diversion during the holidays for audiences looking for a somewhat lighter experience than the crucifixion of Christ or the massacre at the Alamo.
Read Full Review
50
Variety Brian Lowry
Mostly squanders some very gifted performers. Guided by a slapdash script, this vehicle for Cedric the Entertainer is tantamount to embarking on a cross-country journey without a map, making the ride predictably uneven.
Read Full Review
42
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Strands Cedric the Entertainer behind the wheel and forces him to motor a collection of laugh-and-learn wacky situations by sheer force of his outsize charm.
Read Full Review
40
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
The picture shows vital signs only in a few scenes where Cedric takes on the additional role of his own lecherous uncle, but it's too little too late.
Read Full Review
40
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Feels more like a grueling road trip in search of a family comedy.
Read Full Review
40
TV Guide Angel Cohn
For most of the film, Cedric seems to be holding back, though his relationship with genuinely charming rapper-turned-actor (Lil') Bow Wow offers up a few funny moments.
Read Full Review
40
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Cedric the Entertainer is the best (and probably only) reason to take this "Vacation."
Read Full Review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
If laughs are the currency of any comedy, then this one pays minimum wage and, worse, makes you work damn hard even for that pittance.
Read Full Review
38
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Lame.
Read Full Review
38
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Boring, mediocre movie.
Read Full Review
38
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Apart from Williams' presence, director Christopher Erskin's feature debut isn't worth the price of submission. It's not a road trip; it's a road trap.
Read Full Review
30
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
It's a sign of trouble when watching a movie prompts nostalgia for the movie it's ripping off, particularly when that movie wasn't any good. But walking out of Johnson Family Vacation, it's hard not to feel misty-eyed for the urine-soaked-sandwich gags, incest jokes, and other refined comic elements of "National Lampoon's Vacation."
Read Full Review
30
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
The direction on Johnson Family Vacation is numbingly slack; the synapses between the scenes don't spark effortlessly, as they should, and the whole enterprise feels dragged-down and belabored.
Read Full Review
25
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Nearly a scene-for-scene rip-off of "National Lampoon's Summer Vacation" -- where the only substantive change from the original is a reversed travel route.
Read Full Review
25
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
You won't see a single joke here you haven't encountered before, all in funnier forms.
Read Full Review
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Tired and glib, it tries to milk humor from the sniping, sass and simple disrespect of its unpleasant traveling companions.
Read Full Review
20
Village Voice David Ng
The movie contains exactly two chuckle-worthy moments.
Read Full Review
20
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
As arduous to watch as your neighbor’s poorly focused vacation slides.
Read Full Review
12
Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt
Johnson Family Vacation is simply a bad trip.
Read Full Review
10
Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
The entire enterprise was directed by first-timer Christopher Erskin like a would-be Max Bialystock; one can only assume it's supposed to be this bad, because nobody sucks this hard on accident.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 2.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jaspar C. gave it a2:
This film was really crap. I really think Cedric isn't that funny at all, and the jokes were all very forced. The plot was bad too. I saw this on the plane, so I'm glad I didn't waste my money going to the theatre for it.

Kyle gave it a 3:
The catch is: don't watch it!

Ryan H. gave it a 2:
This movie is an hour and a half of predictable crap. I laughed a couple of times at the jokes, but most of the time I laughed at how corny it was. Unless you just have nothing else to do I would not go see this.

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use