RV
A funny, messy road trip that reconnects one family.
Should You Watch It?
RV gives Robin Williams a substantial comedy role as Bob Munro, a pressured business executive who tries to turn a forced work trip into a family vacation. The movie's best moments are very funny, and the whole cast makes the Munros' mounting problems entertaining.
The humor can be crude, including bathroom jokes involving the RV's toilet pump, and the story is often predictable. There is also some foul language, off-color humor, and lying. Still, the film has a warm center. Its message about family closeness comes through clearly, and the PG rating is well deserved.
If your family includes older children and can handle mild PG content, RV is worth the trip.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESBob Munro is in danger of losing his job when his boss sends him to Colorado to help win over a smaller soft-drink company. Rather than tell his wife and children that their Hawaii vacation is canceled, Bob rents a huge recreational vehicle and announces a family road trip.
His family is skeptical, Bob knows little about operating the vehicle, and another RV family keeps crossing their path. The journey quickly becomes a string of mishaps—but also an unexpected chance for the Munros to find their way back to one another.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means RV is an enjoyable comedy with a warm heart, even when its jokes and situations become predictable.
Robin Williams makes the most of the role, and the supporting cast brings fun to the family scenes. The actors' facial reactions to Bob's predicaments are especially entertaining. Several moments had the screening audience in stitches, while the film's family-centered emotional core gives the comedy something lasting beneath the mess.
The Worldview
RV presents a light moral worldview. It exalts family closeness and suggests that shared time can restore relationships strained by work, disappointment, and neglect. Its central conviction is simple: family ties matter more than professional pressure or a carefully planned vacation.
The film also builds its conflict around deception. Bob lies about the reason for the trip, the children are rude to him, and family members trade sarcastic comments. A mean, condescending boss treats employees' personal plans and need for family time as unimportant. The story ultimately moves toward renewed family connection, but it does so through a comic series of lies, selfishness, and embarrassing consequences.
That longing for a family held together by love aligns with Scripture: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light moral worldview; nine mostly light obscenities (one SOB), eight light profanities, people use the word turd to describe large RV, and some bathroom humor regarding toilet facilities and sewage, which sprays protagonist when he tries to empty the toilet on an RV; strong slapstick humor such as man thrown off traveling RV, RV crashes into cement and brick posts guarding driveway, people slide down waterfall, man splattered with sewage, man on runaway bike down big hill, man fights raccoons off screen and raucous sounds are heard, and RV awning tears off; a few light sexual innuendoes but nothing, or very little, really salacious or borderline salacious; no nudity; alcohol use; no smoking; and, father lies to family, children are rude to father and father makes sarcastic comments about his children trying to avoid him, young environmental activist throws gunk in businessman's face, man steals laptop but gets caught and is thrown off vehicle, and mean condescending boss could care less about his employees' personal plans and need for family time.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Bob lies to his family about why their vacation changed. Why can even a lie meant to avoid conflict damage trust?
Ephesians 4:25 · Proverbs 12:22The family begins to reconnect during a difficult and inconvenient trip. What helps a family make meaningful time for one another?
Colossians 3:14 · Philippians 2:3–4The Munro children are rude to their father, and Bob responds with sarcasm. How could each person speak truthfully and respectfully instead?
Ephesians 4:29 · Proverbs 15:1The Final Word
RV is a funny, messy family comedy with predictable turns, strong comic performances, and a warm message about reconnecting. Its PG content includes foul language and crude humor, so know your family's boundaries. For older children and adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP.
