Barry Sonnenfeld was certainly a stronger cinematographer than he is a director. His directorial efforts are certainly not what most people would consider, well… Particularly good. His best film is the Elmore Leonard adaptation Get Shorty, however it's a lone triumph in a filmography that includes Wild, Wild West, Big Trouble, and now the very rarely humorous R.V., a film that only succeeds on Robin Williams undeniable charisma.

Robin Williams is certainly not consistent when it comes to picking projects, but he always displays an alarming amount of charisma, and has proven that he is indeed a talented and versatile actor. From projects ranging in quality from the terrible Toys, or Death to Smoochy, to some truly great films, such as Terry Gilliams The Fisher King. R.V. is certainly no showcase for the man's talents, as we've seen it all before from Williams, and much better.

There are a number of problems. The first and biggest problem is it's not very funny. There are laughs, but few are substantial, and even the slightly humorous scenes are few and far between. The script contains only one or two genuinely funny sequences, and very little humorous dialogue, and thus, relies too strongly on Williams' performance to produce laughs. In his typical style, Robin Williams pulls a few more moments of laughter out of the audience, but it certainly doesn't make up for the weak screenplay. But, that seems to be what you would expect from Geoff Rodkey… (For those of you not familiar with Rodkey's work – he's the man who brought us the recent Shaggy Dog remake, and Daddy Day Care screenplays.)

Unfortunately the supporting cast is underdeveloped, and not particularly interesting. The kids are introduced as brats from the very beginning and the rest of the cast is just as one-dimensional. Robin Williams' character , Bob Munro, is the only character with any kind of depth. The supporting characters certainly aren't funny, which is a shame given the talent involved. Cheryl Hines, most notably recognized from TV's “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (the funniest show on television), is Williams' wife Jamie, “Arrested Development's” Will Arnett is his slimy boss, and even Tony Hale (also from “Arrested Development”) makes a small appearance at the beginning of the movie. Jeff Daniels also appears throughout the movie, with nothing much to do.

After adding R.V. to his list of mediocre directorial efforts, I'm convinced Sonnenfeld should have stuck it out as a cinematographer. The films he was involved with were substantially better, and his work on both Blood Simple and Miller's Crossing was simply breathtaking. Robin Williams is certainly better than the material he has to work with, but I'm sure the upcoming Mrs. Doubtfire 2 will make R.V. seem that much funnier. As for Geoff Rodkey – you may as well keep doing what you're doing… I guess there's a high demand for unfunny scripts in Hollywood .