A fantastic dark comedy that is wholly interesting from beginning to end

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2007)

My wife and I usually enjoy watching movies in two parts, so we started watching this at 11:00 PM intending to stop it halfway through and finish it tomorrow. That did not come to pass as we couldn't bear to wait till tomorrow to see the results of this nightmare road-trip. Someone here compared it to National Lampoons Vacation without the Wally World aspect. That is a gross simplification that ignores the depth and message of this film. They also stated that the family members could possibly be in the same family. Apparently, they don't know too many people in any great detail, because most families are more like the ones we saw here than almost any other I've seen on TV or in movies. But enough ranting.
Alan Arkin stole the show in every scene he was in. All of the other actors put their best efforts into every scene and it shows. The character development was excellent and kept you interested to the last moment. I really have nothing bad to say about this film since it delivered what it was supposed to and much more.
Any parent who brought their kid to this movie or showed it to them are probably the same idiots who showed them Pan's Labyrinth. In the age of the Internet, I think you can be a little bit smarter and bother to check rottentomatoes or IMDb (or how about the MPAA ratings as they were both R-rated). Some parents are just disgraceful.