‘Disaster Holiday’ Review: It’s not a total disaster, but it’s not very good either
Director: Retabile Ramapakela | Script: Retabile Ramapakela | Cast: Kenneth Nkosi (Joseph), Lunathi Mampofu (Nandi), Tina Jaxa (Dora), each | Playing time: 93 minutes | Year: 2024
Every Christmas we are reminded that family is important. However, there must also be bread on the table to sustain that family. Finding a balance between work and family can sometimes be difficult, especially for Joseph Ngema. This South African marketing employee for toilet paper company Roll With It acts as if nothing is happening between him, his children and his ex-wife. When you have to change a family vacation at the last minute to turn it into a work trip, all the problems surface in a supposedly fun way.
Joseph is a workaholic, but it seems a miracle that he was able to keep a job. After all, this father of three looks more like an eight-year-old boy than a grown man. Unfortunately, their work environment is also too childish, which immediately makes for an awkward and unfunny scene. Here it turns out that Joseph has to make an important pitch or he will lose his job. Because this scene, which sets the plot and tone for the rest of the film, tries to be too funny, it’s hard to take the film seriously.
For a family comedy film this generally isn’t too bad, but it leaves the serious moments by the wayside. disaster vacation a little far away. Plus, the humor isn’t funny enough to make up for the loss of seriousness. It’s a shame, because the film has a nice message. Joseph believes he is the best father for his children because he makes sure they have nothing to lose. He would like this, because he himself hasn’t had much in the past. However, this leaves him too busy to actually be the actual father of his children.
This is said to José by several characters, but it is also shown in a more subtle way. For example, he constantly gets the ages of his three children wrong and forgets to check several times to see if the youngest is in the car. After all the crazy adventures in the movie, Joseph finally admits to those around him that he was wrong, but the real star of the show is an earlier scene with his eldest daughter. Here his “fun” character takes a step back and he is able to have a serious conversation with his daughter.
The kids themselves are the best part of the movie. They may be a bit cliché and many of their comments can be seen from a mile away, but their relationship seems believable and sometimes even funny. All three also have at least one uniquely laugh-worthy comment or facial expression, making the film surprising and entertaining in places.
disaster vacation Develop your (attempt at) humor well from time to time. Sometimes the benefits of staged pranks can be seen from a mile away, like when Joseph takes the spare tire off the car and then there is no spare tire. Other times the design returns in a surprising way. This is the case, for example, of the fight between brothers on the phone at the beginning of the film. The best payoff comes from a brief commentary on a dancing traffic cop at the beginning of the film, because he returns completely unexpectedly at the climax.
Although this family comedy film is not really funny, it does succeed in the ‘family film’ part. The Ngema family manages to save everything at the last moment by working together. A major factor in this is Nandi, Joseph’s new wife and stepmother to all three children. Stepmothers are usually portrayed negatively in stories, but Nandi has nothing but love for her husband and stepchildren. The mutual relationships between the family members are the film’s strong point, and it’s kind of heartwarming to see how this disastrous vacation turns into a fun one.
disaster vacation can be seen in netflix.