Yes, you know from the first frame of the movie how the story will unfold and end. However, while the trip is predictable, the acting, cameos and tempo of the film make it a very enjoyable experience. My kids are 9 and 12 and both loved it. Everyone in theater shared their enthusiasm and laughed throughout the film. The movie was not at all hard edged and was utterly appropriate for my kids. The reference to Friday the 13th, which caused one reviewer concern, was offered only to demonstrate Travolta's absolute lack of expertise with what is and what is not appropriate for kids. All in all a fun and harmless film that charmed all in out theater; kids and adults alike.

3 generations went to see this movie, me, mom, and kids. we all loved it!! it was hilarious at times! some of the funny stuff was more adult humor, but the kids still thought it was funny.

I think that the movie was very good, My friend and I were laughing so hard. The premise of the movie was about friends sticking together and families being together.A scene were they're in the bar in Miami was suggestive, but not inappropriate. A few sad moments but mostly really funny.

John Travolta mentions that his kids haven't the first or second Friday the 13th! Not to mention! THOSE FILMS ARE BLOODY!!!! NOT RECOMMENDED FOR KIDS

I rate films based on three things: how I saw it as a (or with a) member of the target audience, how I saw it in a more technical aspect as a filmmaker (in-training!), and what my personal opinion as my (quite opinionated) self was. This film is marketed as a family comedy. As a teenager with a large family, I am part of the target audience. To help with the spectrum, I called in the opinions of a friend and her three children (ages 10, 8, and 4). The general consensus was that the film was entirely…nothing. Nondescript. It was yet another cheesy, feel-good, very slapstick family film that we've come to expect from Disney. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination. You'll probably leave the film having laughed a little, groaned a little, and then you will forget you saw it. In fact, it is so exactly like so many other Disney films that you might get just as much out of staring at a wall for 88 minutes and remembering those films as you would get watching this one. “Lame”, “stupid”, and “cliché” were the words this target audience used to describe it. As far as I know, none of my friends who watched the film care to see it ever again. Technically speaking, I was flummoxed. Why was this film made? There is nothing whatever outstanding or memorable, the “moral of the story” was obvious, everything was predictable, the plot was old news, the dialogue was forgettable, the characters were dull (and often out-of-character to fit into the story…which is bad, as you should never give up character for a story!), and what could have been seen as a nice dose of slapstick to a good script was reduced to the (very bad) attempt at a saving grace for a script that was completely boring. Currently, Disney is one of the wealthiest, most powerful companies in the world. That they wouldn’t bother to make a better film for the millions they influence is intolerable. They COULD have done so much better, especially with the talent they had cast. Instead, the main character straps on a working jetpack (which I admit can work in the right film. However, nothing before this scene even hinted that the world of the film would support anything so unlikely) and (as expected) falls smack in the middle of a conveniently-placed pool of water. Most of the actors seem to have tried their hardest, but the overall flavor was one of cheese, blandness, and wet dog. As me, a well-done family comedy is one of my favorite things to watch. This was not a well-done family comedy. Common Sense rates it suitable for ages 8+, and I have to agree. Impossibly enough, even while excluding the youngest age groups of children from the film by putting in adult content, they still seem to be trying to pander to the mentality of a two-year-old. What we are left with is an audacious sort of condescension towards the audience, all of whom the filmmakers seem to have decided are idiots. Yesterday, an 8-year-old I babysit for confessed that it made him angry that movies and TV acted like he was “stupid”, and that 5-year-olds could figure out most shows in two minutes without the endless explaining they shove in for the younger set. He pointed to his 4-year-old brother as evidence, exclaiming that people acted like all kids were dumb, but his brother understood perfectly (“and he’s just 4!”), so why did they dumb things down for kids his age? Herein lies what I (in my own opinion) see as the biggest problem with this film, and so many others like it. In trying to stoop down to the level of children, they deny them any challenge that could prepare them for real life, of any chance to grow, of any real lesson. In fact, the exposure to watered-down films can make a child just as watered-down. I know Disney is capable of making films that raise the bar. Instead, they chose to make “Old Dogs”. It could have been great. It was not. As far as I am concerned, no-one should watch this film.

Watched this for the 1st time last night and we laughed ourselves silly! There was no language that I recall (and I'm hypersensitive to that stuff in family movies) but lots of drinking, which I didn't care for at all. But it was so touching to see Travolta and Preston w/ their daughter Ella acting together after the loss of Jett. Yes, it's predictable, but I don't ever recall seeing Travolta play such a hysterically manic character. He stole it from Robin Williams, which is a feat! And don't even get me started on Rita Wilson's antics--my sides actually hurt from laughing at her facial expressions. Some comedy was cheesy but original (souvenirs made by Preston for her kids while on lock up were personalized license plates!). I'm ready to watch this again tonight to catch the stuff I missed, because the pace actually was too fast. Otherwise, it's a sweet and sappy sugar rush, a nice diversion for family night.

It was horrible

It's not as bad a most reviewers say. There are some parts that are genuinely funny, especially when Robin Williams tries to play golf after mixing up his medication. It's worth a rental, and nothing bad in it for the kids.