ARE WE DONE YET?
Powerful Exposé
What You Need To Know
ARE WE DONE YET? is a family comedy sequel to ARE WE THERE YET? starring Ice Cube as Nick Persons. Nick has just married Suzanne, who has two children, Kevin and Lindsey. Nick has sold his sports store and is working on launching a sports magazine with “Magic” Johnson on the cover. With Suzanne, Kevin, Lindsey, and the family dog, Nick’s condo has gotten awfully crowded. The situation becomes desperate when Suzanne announces she’s pregnant – with twins!
They find a nice house in the country, which they buy from the quirky local realtor, Chuck Mitchell. When the house starts to fall apart, Nick’s only option becomes Chuck, who doubles as the local building inspector and building contractor. The problems with the house mount, and all Chuck can tell an increasingly frustrated Nick is, “It’s gonna get ugly before it gets pretty.”
Nick’s frustration spills over to his new family, especially when Chuck ingratiates himself with Suzanne, Lindsey, Kevin, and even the family dog! Thus, Nick not only has to repair his new house, but also his relationship with his new family. Before he can do that, however, he has to repair his relationship with Chuck and become Chuck’s friend.
Forgiveness is the key value that helps Nick put everything right. There is also a reference to Christian prayer in the movie, so the movie’s worldview is a light Christian one. The script in ARE WE DONE YET? could use a little work, however. The character arcs are simplified to the point that they don’t always make much sense, especially when Nick transforms to feeling sorry for Chuck. Also, the slapstick comedy doesn’t always build on itself effectively to keep the laughter increasing as well as flowing smoothly. This gives the narrative a choppy or spotty feel. That said, Ice Cube as the put-upon homeowner and John C. McGinley of TV’s SCRUBS as the goofy contractor make a funny pair.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light Christian worldview with a prayer extolling forgiveness and the important of turning a house into a family home in a story about a man getting frustrated with the crazy contractor fixing his new family's new house; zero obscenities, six light exclamatory profanities (such as "Oh, God"), man in clothes sits on toilet seat in house he might buy to try it out, and man picks up raccoon dung; a lot of light slapstick violence such as objects hit cartoon character during credits, pratfalls, man crashes through roof, chandelier falls and breaks table, large fish swims menacingly toward man underwater, angry man chases another man, and mild birthing scene; no sex scenes but very light innuendoes as married couple wordlessly thinks about all the rooms in which they can make love in in new house and man mentions teenagers kissing and doing "other things" or "other stuff" as he did when he was young; no alcohol; no smoking; and, realtor hides broken doorknob from client, man unfairly threatens another man with a fine, family irritates one another as they try to fix up their new house, and man claims to be a midwife who can sense the real feelings of a mother's unborn child as well as the child's sex.
