Johnson Family Vacation (2004)

Buckle up for the wildest road trip of the year. A comedy adventure about a misfit family trying to survive outrageous obstacles (includeing each other) on a cross-country trek to their annual family reunion.

Director:

Christopher Erskin

Writers:

Todd R. Jones, Earl Richey Jones

Stars:

Cedric the Entertainer, Shannon Elizabeth, Shad Moss

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Nate Johnson / Uncle Earl
Vanessa Williams	...	Dorothy Johnson
Solange	...	Nikki Johnson (as Solange Knowles)
Shad Moss	...	D.J. Johnson (as Bow Wow)
Gabby Soleil	...	Destiny Johnson
Shannon Elizabeth	...	Chrishelle Rene Boudreau
Steve Harvey	...	Mack Johnson
Aloma Wright	...	Glorietta Johnson
Shari Headley	...	Jacqueline
Jennifer Freeman	...	Jill
Philip Bolden	...	Mack, Jr. (as Philip Daniel Bolden)
Rodney Perry	...	Cousin Lump (as Rodney B. Perry)
Christopher B. Duncan	...	Stan
Lorna Scott	...	Gladys
Kevin P. Farley	...	Stall Guy (as Kevin Farley)

Storyline

AAA can't help the roadside emergency that is the JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION. Even the on-board navigation system has a meltdown on Nate Johnson and his family's cross-country trek to their annual family reunion/grudge match. Reluctantly along for the ride are Nate's wife, who's only in it for the kids; their rapper-wannabe son; their teenage daughter who's fashioned herself as the next Lolita; and their youngest, whose imaginary dog Nate just can't seem to keep track of. Can the Johnsons survive each other and all the obstacles the road throws at them to make it to Caruthersville, Missouri? Can they find Missouri?

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Plot Keywords:

family character name in title | cross country | road movie | highway travel | cross country trip | 

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Taglines:

Take the ride.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual references, crude humor and brief drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

Solange Knowles makes a reference to her sister Beyoncé during a cell phone conversation in her first scene of the movie. Her character's little sister in the movie is named "Destiny," an obvious reference to her sister's former group Destiny's Child.

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Goofs

After almost getting hit with a water balloon the deejay says somebody gonna get a whuppin' out here, his lips doesn't move at all.

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Quotes

Nate Johnson: Nikki, this better be FTD, cuz this Russian tail is old enough to be yo' grandaddy
Nikki Johnson: Not mom's big daddy

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Alternate Versions

BET broadcasts in the US use the sped-up 25 fps PAL video from a 24 fps film source.

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Connections

Referenced in Ancient Evil 2: Guardian of the Underworld (2005)

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Soundtracks

Old Macdonald
Traditional
Performed by Eric Speier
Courtesy of Spirit Music Group on behalf of Eric Speier

User Reviews

The Lost Sequel

Spend a couple of hours with the Griswold, oops, I mean Johnson family as they take to the road for their family reunion.

Cedric the Entertainer supplies the laughs, all seven of them. A sexy female traveler inciting marital tension, being given the wrong car at the dealership, unkempt rural relatives, we've seen it all before.

But what might be the funniest thing of all about this predictable remake of National Lampoon's Vacation is that (Lil') Bow Wow has a higher billing than Vanessa Williams.

But the fact remains that if you are looking for about 90 minutes of profanity free family entertainment which, by the way, is becoming harder and harder to find these days, then maybe The Johnson Family Vacation is just what the doctor ordered.

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Johnson Family Vacation

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,375,307, 11 April 2004

Gross USA:

$31,203,964

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,326,183

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Hallway Pictures, Bird and a Bear Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1