Daddy Daughter Trip review by Bobby Blakey
Rob Schneider is one of those comedians that had an impressive run on the big screen for quite awhile along with his classic appearances in Adam Sandler films. Over the last few years, they have been more hit and miss, but despite not always agreeing with his world views I still find him funny. He has also had some success behind the camera directing as well with the great flick Big Stan and episodes of his series Real Rob. Now he is taking on double duty once again for his latest film Daddy Daughter Trip co-starring Miranda Scarlett Schneider, John Cleese, Jackie Sandler, Mónica Huarte, Miguel Ángel Munoz, Gavin Guerrero, and Dana Min Goodman. Could this bring a return to comedy form for him, or will it fail to make the trip?
Daddy Daughter Trip follows Larry Bublé, an ambitious yet broke inventor, who is struggling to keep his family eating and sleeping indoors. When he promises his eight-year-old-daughter the spring break vacation of a lifetime, he is forced to get more inventive than ever before.
This outing is a family affair with Schneider’s real-life wife having a small role and his daughter playing his daughter in the film. It’s also keeping it in the comedy family with Adam Sandler’s real wife Jackie Sandler taking on the role of his wife in the film. After seeing some of the trailers and the poster art I kept my expectations low as I feared it might not work.
The first half of the film is pretty hit and miss leading me to think that this is not going to end well. Schneider is leaning into fun and silliness, at times trying to create a family film and despite the first act does a decent job. Once they get passed all the set up and hit the road it changes its tone a bit and some of the jokes work a bit better, but it’s not until they meet the new family and the running gags and fun that it really starts to find its stride.
The cast are all fine with Schneider going all in with his own self-deprecation and downtrodden persona to make you both annoyed by him, but also sympathetic thanks to the love he has for his family. Obviously, the chemistry with his daughter shines through to help make you buy into the whole thing more and enjoy seeing them together. The rest of the cast are in and out doing their jobs well with my all-time favorite in the film being Monica Huarte. Her over-the-top facial expressions and reactions had me cracking up anytime she was on screen.
The overall tropes are pretty by the numbers most of the time with just a few things really standing out. There are sequences of animation that are fun to watch and an ongoing gag of Schneider getting smacked around that takes it to another level. I wished it had a bit more heft to the relationship aspect that they are clearly relying on and more of the jokes hitting their marks, but it’s a decent silly comedy you can watch with the whole family for the most part. There are some violent elements with him getting constantly hurt including a severed finger but is more funny than gruesome.
Decide for yourself and check out Daddy Daughter Trip available now on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.