Melanie is eagerly looking forward to taking her first big step towards independence when she plans a 'girls only' road trip to check out prospective universities. However, when her imposing police-chief dad insists on escorting her instead, she soon finds her dream trip turning into a nightmare full of misfortune and turmoil. Dad wants to assure total security and safety for his precious daughter, while Melanie has a 17-year-old's need to become a grown woman and have her own sense of independence. Now, even as dad and daughter bicker, banter and careen from one disaster to the next on their journey, they are about to discover that, sometimes, going that extra mile to be together can forge a family bond so strong it can withstand anything--even wild curves ahead. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy Running Time: 1 hr. 23 min. Release Date: March 7th, 2008 (wide) MPAA Rating: G Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Cast And Credits Starring: Martin Lawrence, Raven Symone, Arnetia Walker, Michael Landes, Brianna Russo Directed by: Roger Kumble Produced by: Ann Marie Sanderlin, Raven Symone, Michael Green

As family road trip movies go, Disney's "College Road Trip" is a longer and more arduous journey than even "RV" or "Are We There Yet?" On the other hand, those movies performed well at the boxoffice.

Families seem to be extremely tolerant of taxing movie car trips. Perhaps the trick is that everyone is simply glad it's happening to another family and not theirs.

This excursion teams Martin Lawrence with Disney Channel star Raven-Symone. You wouldn't want to accuse either performer of subtlety, but here the two seem to be in a contest to outdo each other with screams, facial contortions and wails of exasperation. Let's call it a draw.

What is puzzling is the incompatibility of the two leads with their roles. Raven is supposed to be a high school senior on a road trip to check out prospective universities. But she acts like a adolescent on a sugar high during a weekend sleepover. Lawrence plays a small-town police chief, one who borrows and totals a squad car, sneaks into a college women's dorm and acts like no cop you've ever seen, in or out of movies.

What Lawrence's James Porter is, in fact, is the worst-case scenario of a control-freak dad: He will not let his precious girl grow up and live an independent life. Despite this, Raven's Melanie Porter is sweet-natured and obedient though her dad does drive her nuts.

Dad wants her to go to Northwestern -- because it's a short drive from their Illinois home. When an opportunity to apply to Georgetown comes up, Melanie joins two friends (Disney Channel actors Brenda Song and Margo Harshman) on a road trip to D.C.

Nothing happens with any logic here. The destruction of the police cruiser, the wedding turmoil, a skydiving episode and a golf course duel with clubs and carts all happen because the road trip needs a bit of excitement, not because anything leads rationally to these incidents.

Direction by Roger Kumble is as hamfisted as the screenplay by four writers is shorn of any sense of how families actually behave.