How many of you remember the 2005 family comedy “Are We There Yet?” starring Ice Cube?

And how many people really wanted a sequel?

Obviously enough to justify “Are We Done Yet?”

The original film was nothing special, but it did have its humorous moments - Ice Cube’s Nick Persons is an easy character to sympathize with. However, the sequel turns his tough guy with a soft spot routine into an overwrought caricature that unceremoniously pushes him to the sideline of his own movie with the introduction of a new flaky character.

The start of the film holds promise, with Ice Cube playing the same no nonsense guy who wooed his wife, Suzanne (Nia Long, “Premonition”), while trying to win over her two troublemaking kids. Since we last saw him, Nick has sold his sports shop and is now trying to publish his own sports magazine.

Living with Suzanne and her two kids in his apartment - a rather tight fit - Nick decides to look for a house out in the country. The family moves into a grand old home, which turns out to be a real fixer-upper. With the assistance of an overly friendly general contractor named Chuck Mitchell, Jr. (John C. McGinley, TV’s “Scrubs”) - who also sold them the home - Nick must keep his family and his house from falling apart.

While the film has some slapstick humor in the beginning while the family is still in the city, the laughs dry out once the story changes locations. McGinley’s general contractor - initially a quirky, fun character - begins to wear on you as he shows up in scene after scene. Soon, the film begins to seem more like his movie than Ice Cube’s, which is not an improvement.

Meanwhile, Ice Cube overacts his way through the middle of the story, trying desperately for laughs that are not there. Long’s Suzanne is a vacant, one-dimensional character who does not come off as realistic or amusing. Even the kids, who were such troublemakers in the first film, are wasted and forgotten in this one.

The director pushes situations too far and makes a light-hearted tale into a story that plays on every homeowner or potential homeowner’s worst fears. It’s not funny when several expensive problems arise in a new home and the owner feels like he is being taken advantage of by the hired help. Nick is justifiably upset with what happens to him and his family, but no one else in the movie seems to notice. Once he pulls himself together and finds a way through his problems, the story becomes viewable again.

Ice Cube’s sour expressions and deadpan humor works well in the appropriate comedy. I just wish the filmmakers had used his strengths better here instead of trying to create something different.

Rated PG for innuendos and brief language.