by Isabella Jordan Are We Done Yet? Directed by Steve Carr. Starring Ice Cube, Nia Long, John C. McGinley, Aleisha Allen, Philip Bolden. About a year ago my kids wanted desperately to rent Are We There Yet? I was game though I really expected a predictable movie about a man trying to make a good impression on a woman he likes by taking her terrible kids on an adventurous road trip. Predictable? Yes. Entertaining? Very. I was pleasantly surprised and I did enjoy it. The new movie, Are We Done Yet? picks up a year after the first movie left off. Nick Persons (Ice Cube) is now married to the lovely Suzanne and for the most part accepted by his two stepchildren, Lindsey, a typical teenage girl, and a Kevin, also a pretty typical kid. It seems Nick's apartment is a little too small for the four of them. Add to that his plans to start a magazine and Suzanne's announcement that she's pregnant and the decision is made. The Persons go house hunting.

They find a seemingly lovely house out in the country where the cell phone reception is lacking but there is a studio for Nick's work and lots of room for a growing family. All seems well until the house is inspected and, as you can guess, everything goes wrong.

I'd like to tell you that the movie is silly and predictable from that point on. That's only half right. It is predictable and, unfortunately, if you saw the trailer for the movie, you saw about half of the gags in it. But it's still worth a view, I assure you.

Ice Cube as Nick Persons has a real gift for comedy. He's negative and cranky but in the most hilarious way. He along with newcomer John C. McGinley as Chuck the contractor, inspector, Olympic walker, and midwife made this movie more than just a gimmicky way to make a buck off a young audience. Playing off each other, they made the movie truly funny even though you could see the story and its ending a mile away. And that is no easy task. A very good family movie. Older children will enjoy it more than the little ones but the adults will find some laughs too. It's PG for a little language and a little innuendo and in the hour and a half range. You'll especially love the fishing scene!

Isy