Johnson Family Vacation

Johnson Family Vacation is a comedy about Nate Johnson, a Los Angeles man whose marriage is in trouble and whose relationship with his three children is strained. When he receives an invitation to the annual family reunion in Missouri, he sees it as his chance to bring everyone back together. He packs his wife Dorothy, his rap-aspiring son D.J., his teenage daughter Nikki and his young daughter Destiny into an SUV for the drive from Los Angeles to the reunion. Dorothy agrees to come only to stay near the children, and the journey quickly turns into a series of mishaps, from hostile truckers and police trouble to a suspicious stranger and a run-in with a cement mixer. By the time they near their destination, Dorothy is ready to turn back.

The film was directed by Christopher Erskin from a screenplay by Todd Jones and Earl Richey Jones, and it was produced in part by its star, Cedric the Entertainer, who plays Nate as well as his Uncle Earl. Vanessa Williams plays Dorothy, with Solange as Nikki, Shad Moss as D.J., Gabby Soleil as Destiny and Shannon Elizabeth as Chrishelle Rene Boudreau, among 23 credited cast members.

Released in April 2004, the film runs 97 minutes. It cost about 12 million US dollars and took roughly 31 million worldwide, a solid return on its budget. Audiences were unenthusiastic: it holds 4.6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 8,900 votes and 5.5 out of 10 on TMDB from 214 votes. A critics' rating of 3.6 out of 10 from 88 reviews puts it below even those audience scores.