If you can't say something nice about something, my mother always taught me, don't say anything at all.
Bearing that in mind, let me just say that "Are We Done Yet?" could be much worse. A loose remake of 1948's "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" and a sequel to 2005's best-forgotten "Are We There Yet?," the movie actually practices a bit more restraint than your usual slapstick-heavy, family-friendly comedy.
But restraint doesn't necessarily mean funny, and this is almost embarrassingly absent of laughs. Ice Cube stars as Nick Persons, a put-upon Everyman who endures a nightmare of a dilapidated house when he and his new bride (Nia Long) and stepchildren move to a country fixer-upper.
The sight gags are lame, the situations clichéd and unimaginative. If there is a saving grace here, it's John C. McGinley (TV's "Scrubs") as the town's indefatigably sunny contractor, city inspector and real estate agent. He helps, but only up to a point. PG
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