Johnson Family Vacation is a wonderful family movie and is very humorus, sometimes in not the best ways. It has a great plot and it has its quirks like any other movie, I would recommend it, especially if you're a fan of Cedric the Entertainer { who plays 2 parts in the movie } 4 out of 5 stars.

At their best, road trip movies can be transformative adventures (e.g., "Y Tu Mama Tambien"; "Midnight Run"). At their worst, they can just be unfocused, meandering wastes of time. Unfortunately, this movie tended toward the latter. Instead of transformation we get one-liners and sight gags, and not even enough of those. Also this movie wasted of fine acting talent, especially, of all people, Shari Headley, whom I fell in love with in the classic "Coming to America," but is relegated to a bit part here. Come back Shari!

Cedric is excellent along with the rest of the cast. Better laughs than a Chevy Chase run.

I THINK JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION WAS A VERY HILARIOUS MOVIE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE MAJORITY OF ALL THE BAD REVIEWS I HAD READ. MY GUESS IS THEY DON'T LIKE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN VERSION OF THE SO CALLED CLASSIC CHEVY CHASE MOVIE. THIS MOVIE WAS SO FUNNY ! I LOVED THE PART WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS PIMPED OUT AND WHEN NATE AND HIS SON D.J. HAD IT OUT ABOUT THE CDS AND THREW THE CDS OUT OF THE WINDOW. THE MOVIE BECAME MORE AND MORE FUNNY WHEN THE FAMILY WERE AT FUN WORLD AND NATE RAN INTO THE CHEF MAKING DESTINY'S BIRTHDAY CAKE HAHAHAHAHA. I ESPECIALLY LOVED STEVE HARVEY WHEN HE CONSTANTLY TAUNTED HIS BROTHER. THIS WAS A GREAT MOVIE I RECOMMEND IT IF U R HAVING A BAD DAY OR JUST WANT SOMETHING FUNNY TO WATCH.

**1/2

In "Johnson Family Vacation," which is little more than an all-black version of the National Lampoon Vacation movies from twenty or so years ago, Nate Johnson loads his wife and three kids into the car and drives from their home in Los Angeles to a family reunion in Missouri. Along the way, of course, the family meets with a series of comic misadventures that threaten to prevent them from reaching their destination.

Despite the derivative storyline, the early scenes in the film exhibit a kind of playful spirit that bodes well for the rest of the movie. This is due in no small measure to Cedric the Entertainer, who, unlike so many of the comics who appear in these types of movies, doesn't feel the need to stand apart from the material in order to draw attention to himself. Indeed, it is the laid-back, unfussy way in which he delivers his lines that makes them so funny. He is also blessed with an attractive supporting cast that includes Vanessa Williams as his long-suffering wife and Bow Wow as his mouthy but generally good-hearted teenage son. The movie even includes some clever little satirical jabs at the accoutrements and symbols of modern-day black culture as Nate, the traditionalist, who listens to `70`s soul on his worn-out 8-tracks, goes toe-to-toe with his adolescent gansta' rap children.

But as the Johnsons tootle their way across country in their souped-up SUV, we begin to notice that the film itself has stalled out. About halfway through, it dawns on us that the movie isn't really going anywhere, that it is merely playing out variations on incidents we've seen earlier in the film, and that the set pieces and situations aren`t nearly as interesting or outrageous as they should be. This is truly a pity because, given the attractive cast, we really want to like "Johnson Family Vacation" more than we ultimately do.

Still, all things considered, this makes for a reasonable diverting, mindless time at the movies, and Cedric the Entertainer's moniker has rarely seemed so apt.