ARE WE DONE YET?
A clean family comedy best saved for home.
Should You Watch It?
Are We Done Yet? offers a clean family story about a newly married man trying to build a home, repair a difficult house, and become a better husband and stepfather. Its strongest idea is that forgiveness can restore strained relationships. A reference to Christian prayer gives the movie a light Christian worldview.
The tradeoff is quality. The script could use more work, especially when Nick's feelings toward Chuck change too quickly. The slapstick also does not build effectively, so the comedy can feel uneven rather than increasingly funny. Ice Cube and John C. McGinley make a funny pair, but the film remains a modest two-star comedy.
You can watch it with your family, but its clean content makes it a better choice for home than a special theater trip.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESNick Persons has married Suzanne, whose children, Kevin and Lindsey, are now part of his family. With a baby—or rather, twins—on the way, their condo is too crowded, so they buy a country house from the quirky realtor Chuck Mitchell.
When the house begins falling apart, Nick must rely on Chuck, who is also the local building inspector and contractor. As the repairs grow more difficult, Nick's frustration threatens his relationships with his new family and with Chuck.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means this is a watchable but uneven family comedy. Ice Cube is funny as the put-upon homeowner, and John C. McGinley is amusing as the goofy contractor. Their pairing gives the movie some energy.
The script simplifies the character arcs so much that they do not always make sense. The slapstick does not consistently build toward bigger laughs, either. As a result, the narrative feels choppy and spotty, even though the movie's central message about forgiveness gives it a worthwhile foundation.
The Worldview
The film presents forgiveness as the key to putting family relationships right. It also includes a reference to Christian prayer and emphasizes the importance of turning a house into a family home. These are light Christian elements in an otherwise comic story about a man frustrated by the contractor repairing his new family's house.
The movie's strongest moral idea is that Nick must repair more than the building. He must also repair his relationships with his wife, stepchildren, and Chuck. The film's simplified character arcs make that transformation less convincing than it could be, but its emphasis on forgiveness aligns with Scripture: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light Christian worldview with a prayer extolling forgiveness and the important of turning a house into a family home in a story about a man getting frustrated with the crazy contractor fixing his new family's new house; zero obscenities, six light exclamatory profanities (such as "Oh, God"), man in clothes sits on toilet seat in house he might buy to try it out, and man picks up raccoon dung; a lot of light slapstick violence such as objects hit cartoon character during credits, pratfalls, man crashes through roof, chandelier falls and breaks table, large fish swims menacingly toward man underwater, angry man chases another man, and mild birthing scene; no sex scenes but very light innuendoes as married couple wordlessly thinks about all the rooms in which they can make love in in new house and man mentions teenagers kissing and doing "other things" or "other stuff" as he did when he was young; no alcohol; no smoking; and, realtor hides broken doorknob from client, man unfairly threatens another man with a fine, family irritates one another as they try to fix up their new house, and man claims to be a midwife who can sense the real feelings of a mother's unborn child as well as the child's sex.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Nick has to repair his relationships as well as his house. Why can forgiving someone be harder than fixing a broken object?
Ephesians 4:31–32 · Colossians 3:13The film presents prayer and forgiveness as part of making a house into a family home. What helps your home become a place of patience and welcome?
Joshua 24:15 · Romans 12:10–13Nick's frustration spills over onto the people closest to him. What can we do when stress makes us treat family members poorly?
Proverbs 15:1 · James 1:19–20The movie's character changes are simplified. Why does genuine change usually take time?
Philippians 1:6 · Galatians 5:22–23The Final Word
Are We Done Yet? is clean, family-friendly entertainment with a worthwhile message about forgiveness. Its uneven script and spotty slapstick make it better for a relaxed home viewing than a theater outing. Our answer is WAIT FOR HOME.
