It’s hard to believe family movies are still being made, and it’s even harder to believe they can be entertaining too.

Take the “family road trip” movie. The “road trip” gives way to a host of gags and giggles as adventures are on the open road as hilarity will promisingly ensue. But add the word “family” to create a genre that should be left to the Griswalds.

Ignoring this fact, the family road trip movie “Are We There Yet?” was made. But don’t let the movies’ makers fool you: “Are We There Yet?” is more complex then a typical family road trip movie – it also takes a page from the “kids sabotaging their parents’ date” genre.

Then again, that’s something that should have been left to the “Parent Trap” (the Haley Mills version, not the remake starring the prepubescent and once-innocent Lindsay Lohan). It looks like this bumpy ride is nothing more than another dull plot.

In “Are We There Yet?” Nick Persons (Ice Cube) falls for hot single mom Suzanne Kingston (Nia Long). To impress the “hot mama” when she can’t find a baby-sitter, Nick volunteers to take the kids up to Suzanne in Vancouver on New Year’s Eve. Nick, dubbed “Nick the Quick” by his buddies for his “no muss, no fuss” dating style, hates kids and calls them “little cockroaches,” shivering whenever he catches sight of one. Predictably, Suzanne’s 11-year-old daughter Lindsey (Aleisha Allen) and 7-year-old son Kevin (Philip Daniel Bolden) are little monsters.

The movie opens with Nick purchasing a brand-new Lincoln Navigator that you can bet will be ruined by the end of the movie.

The kids hope to reconcile their parents’ relationship and are not afraid to sabotage Nick anywhere – including airports and ice skating rinks – while laughing merrily at Nick’s physical and monetary expense.

Thankfully, Ice Cube’s gangsta appeal keeps the movie afloat. Ice Cube is always entertaining and blessed with a presence that says “I noticeably don’t try hard to act, but you’ll like me anyway.” And for what it’s worth, Nia Long perfectly plays her role as the divine divorcee – probably because her role requires little screen time. Tracy Morgan does a great job as well, but don’t bother looking for his face: he plays the voice of a Satchel Paige bobble-head on Nick’s dashboard. Satchel, a.k.a. Satch, counsels Nick as the dual-role devil and angel on his shoulder.

On a 1 – 5 rating on the “Aww shucks” scale, (one being sweet and inducing a tear you claim is dust in your eye and five being Olsen-twins-on-“Full House” annoying), the movie skids toward a four.

Yes, it’s sad the Kingston kids miss their father and the emotionally strained relationship between the kids and Nick is ripe for resolve, but however genuine the story may try to be, it leaves audiences gagging as opposed to getting choked up.

Like Nick from the film, “Are We There Yet?” is toast.