Not quite good 'Yet'

This movie is offensive -- not only because it plays on stereotypes, but mainly because it's the exact same thing we've seen many times before. Basically, a divorced mom's kids try to dissuade some new guy from dating said mom. Chevy Chase did the same thing with Jonathan Taylor Thomas in "Man of the House."\nYes, it is a movie for kids, and kids do like to see plots where the parents aren't in control. This of course results in wacky misadventures with tons of physical humor where everyone comes together in the end and that's a recipe to make children laugh. Will "Are We There Yet?" make children laugh? Yes, but then again the phrase "sex-man" will do it too. This was proven several times as the children in the movie accused Ice Cube of being such an adjective. \nSo in this latest rehash Ice Cube is Nick, a player who tries to date Suzanne (Nia Long). Although Nick and Suzanne get along fine, he has yet to meet the kids. The two little "monsters" try to scare away all suitors, but only because of the misguided belief that their father will come back. When Suzanne needs someone to drive her two kids to Vancouver, Nick happily volunteers. Of course he does this in his brand new Escalade which, much like the young guy in war movies, has no chance of coming out of this. And guess what? Wacky misadventures occur as the kids plot to make life miserable for Nick while attempting to escape from him and see their father. \nThe dialogue in this movie seems forced -- mainly because the screenwriters give the kids big words to say while at the same time restricting Ice Cube from swearing. But like I said before, it's a kids' movie. So a little cheesiness is allowable, but it just wears thin on anyone over 12 after a while. \nMore unforgivable are the sum of events added just to accommodate action sequences that don't make sense. For instance, the kids convince a passing trucker that they are being kidnapped. The trucker of course feels the need to save these kids. What solution does he come up with? Ramming the Escalade into the side wall with his 18-wheeler. What a great idea. If they're dead they're not kidnapped. There also seems to be a lot of sex jokes for a movie aimed at such a young audience. Nia Long has great boobs, and we know this because the movie subtly tells us as much by having characters stare at them or camera shots that highlight the cleavage.\nReissuing plot lines is something that has been commonplace in Hollywood forever, but if one is going to do it, do it well so that it feels original. This movie was definitely not quite there yet.