The new Robin Williams comedy “RV” directed by Barry Sonnenfeld is nowhere near as bad as the heinous trailers would lead a person to believe. Geoff Rodkey's screenplay is surprisingly subtle every now and then, actually dialing down the over-the-top histrionics and allowing the actors to attempt to create full-blooded three-dimensional characters. Better, it’s even funny a time or two, moments of humor coming to the forefront tickling even the most dried up funny bone.

None of this means the movie is any good, of course, it’s just not terrible. When you consider the picture’s supposed comedic highpoint is drowning a main character in gallons of fecal matter, that’s really saying something. So, no, I’m not about to say I was surprised enough by “RV” to actually recommend it to people, I’m just saying it’s not so bad I’m going to look at them like complete idiots if they decide to go see it.

Still, you have to wonder what both Williams and Sonnenfeld were thinking . This is, without a doubt, a major step downward for both (and when you consider where their careers are at the moment that’s saying something). Downward, not so much because it’s the worst thing either has ever attempted (“Wild, Wild, West,” “Big Trouble,” “Father’s Day” or “Bicentennial Man” anyone?), but because it is so obviously a benign and simple attempt to reach a comedic audience that's deserted them. There are no risks here, not bold maneuvers like the ones found in “Good Morning, Vietnam” or “Get Shorty.” “RV” is about as risky as a day spent in a 2-foot deep wading pool wearing a lifejacket and surrounded by sixteen lifeguards, and it’s more than a bit disheartening to think this is what it has come to for both men at this point in their careers.

The basic thrust here is nothing more than an obvious “National Lampoon’s Vacation” overhaul, only this time without the wacky John Candy theme park climax. Otherwise, if you’ve seen that film than you’ve pretty much seen this one, Williams’ Bob Munro a cheap knockoff of Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold. The main difference this time is that, instead of traveling cross-country just for the heck of it, the Munro family is doing it because patriarch Bob might lose his prestigious high-paying job with a soft drink company if he doesn’t make it to Colorado for a big presentation. With that in mind, good bye tickets to Hawaii and hello giant green gas-guzzling recreational vehicle, the frazzled businessman tricking his family into thinking he’s secretly arranged this trip as an exercise in bonding.

It doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out where this is heading, mom Jaimie (Cheryl Hines), daughter Cassie (Joanna “JoJo” Levesque) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) sure to clue in on the deception. But this is a family flick, and I certainly don’t mean “Addams Family Values,” either, and there are mind numbing rules the filmmakers unfortunately feel the need to follow. Too bad, because the droll delicious wit Sonnenfeld uncovered in both those two Charles Addams-inspired macabre comedies (both of which, especially that 1993 sequel, only seem to get better with age) has escaped his touch long ago, and there isn’t even the slightest attempt to recover that talent here.

Still, there are some small pleasures to be found, not the least of which is Jeff Daniels’ delightful turn as RV adventurist Travis Gornicke. Both he and Kristin Chenoweth (playing his bubbly blonde wife MaryJo) are splendid, lighting up the screen every time their characters show up to annoy the Munro’s. Unlike Randy Quaid’s obnoxious over the top theatrics in the “Vacation” features, Daniels and Chenoweth have the good sense to dial things down proving less is certainly more and subsequently generating the only consistently amusing laughs in this whole misbegotten enterprise.

That’s probably a bit harsh. Sonnenfeld still has that “Raising Arizona” knack for visuals (he was the cinematographer on that landmark masterpiece after all) and some of his Midwestern desert framings can’t help but recall his past triumphs working with the Coens. Williams has a moment or two, while pop star JoJo follows up the surprisingly winning “Aquamarine” with a second performance nearly as charming as her work on that pre-teen “Splash” clone.

None of this makes “RV” worth a person’s time or their dollars. Like I said, this comedy isn’t very good. But it isn’t all that bad, either, and in a year when twelve movies have already gone unscreened for critics before April's even ended that’s probably about as fine an endorsement a film as silly as this could ever hope to get.