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STEVE PERSALLWe've been down this road before
Didn't anyone learn from Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation (or its sequels)? The last thing anyone wants to do is pile a family into a vehicle for a cross country trip to some place that probably won't be as much fun as promised.
Nate Johnson (Cedric the Entertainer) didn't learn. In Johnson Family Vacation, which opened in theaters Wednesday, he's dragging the clan from California to the Johnson family reunion in Missouri. His wife (Vanessa L. Williams) isn't keen on the idea, and their three children (Bow Wow, Solange Knowles and Gabby Soleil) have other things on their minds, such as rap music, cute boys and an imaginary dog that keeps running away. Not even a satellite navigation unit keeps the Johnsons on track.
Johnson Family Vacation also stars Cedric the Entertainer's fellow "King of Comedy" Steve Harvey and Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) as a hitchhiker Nate picks up in an act of Christian duty after bypassing a stranded nun. Not even Clark Griswold would stoop that low.
- STEVE PERSALL, Times film critic