Johnson Family Vacation starring Vanessa L. Williams, Cedric the Entertainer, and Shannon Elizabeth follows a family reunion in Missouri, taking advantage of it to make up with his family, the route to Missouri isn't that smooth by the way.
The direction on Johnson Family Vacation is numbingly slack; the synapses between the scenes don't spark effortlessly, as they should, and the whole enterprise feels dragged-down and belabored.
Packing all the tired trappings of the raunchy road-trip genre, this loutish comedy plays out as a loosely threaded collection of shrill jokes and cliched sight gags.
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
February 05, 2005
I really wanted to like this movie, especially since I'm a fan of Cedric the Entertainer.
Several laugh-out-loud moments are scattered throughout this otherwise dumb-and-gets-even-dumber African-American road trip.
Ebert & Roeper
April 12, 2004
Big disappointment.
Washington Post
April 09, 2004
Single-handedly saving a movie may be a tall order for a short-legged clown, but Cedric the Entertainer is the best (and probably only) reason to take this Vacation.
Film Journal International
August 08, 2004
Too many jokes fall flat and a number of promising set-ups ... wind up going nowhere.
Mechanical performances by Vanessa Williams and Bow Wow, as Nate's musically inclined son, impair Cedric's earnest comedic efforts in this spasmodic comedy.