Moving McAllister Movie Review

Has there ever been a road trip in the history of movies that didn't culminate in some form of crazy hijinks, becoming completely derailed before ending with at least one pair of people falling in love?

You'd have to be awfully new to moviegoing to be surprised by any of the plot points in Moving McAllister, a pleasant, though completely by-the-numbers, rom-trip (to coin a phrase). Rick (Ben Gourley) is about to take the Bar exam, but he's so eager to please his new boss (Rutger Hauer) that he accepts an assignment to drive from Miami to L.A. with the boss's niece Michelle (Mila Kunis), who's moving to Hollywood to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress. Naturally, they'll be driving a rundown moving truck and carting Michelle's pet pig, too. Because that's where the cuteness is.

As expected, a variety of obstacles totally unexpectedly emerge for them to face. The truck breaks down. The phone goes dead. A hitchhiker (Jon Heder) gets Rick into a fight. The truck gets stolen. Rick's clothes are burned by rowdy kids. Detours galore are on tap, though, thanks mostly to the flighty Michelle, who takes them into the great white north as a "surprise" for Rick so he can see his parents. And his dad thinks he can turn in visible!

It's all so cute and quaint and if this movie didn't arrive on DVD once every two months I'd probably declare it fresh and fun. But now I feel like I've been down this road so much, that not even the one-two punch of Rutger Hauer and a pink little pig can make me crack much more than a mildly bemused smirk. It may be just the thing for date night when you aren't really paying attention to the movie... but you'll find funnier comedies on your rental shelf, even ones that involve a road trip.

The DVD includes one deleted scene and a making-of featurette.





Ready to rumble.