by Karyn L. Beach

The father-daughter dynamic has been the stuff of movies since before Spencer Tracy and Liz Taylor made Father of the Bride. While it won't be nominated for any awards or even remembered long after the credits roll, College Road Trip is a harmless divergence.

Police Chief James Porter is the happily married father of two bright kids. There's his young science prodigy of a son, Trey (Eshaya Draper), and the apple of his eye, the beautiful future lawyer, Melanie (Raven Symone). Daddy is more than a little overprotective and wants his daughter to attend Northwestern, just a mere 23 minutes away. However, all bets are off when she's accepted into Georgetown. All she has to do is get down there for a face-to-face interview. Reluctantly, Dad lets her go ... as long as he can tag along.

The best word I can u se to describe College Road Trip is harmless. Teen girls will probably relate well to it as would parents who are afraid of letting their kids head off into the big bad world. There are a few big laughs, most of which come courtesy of Albert, the pet pig, and Donnie Osmond, as another overzealous father taking his daughter on a college road trip of her own.

Symone and Lawrence have a good chemistry and their banter seems genuine. Kym Whitley as the more grounded mother helps to create a sense of a good family dynamic.

Very family friendly, kids could do a lot worse than College Road Trip.