Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Excellent, smart action film.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

For decades, A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life have been the standard templates for holiday films, until a third choice came along in 1990. Ever since, there have been a whole slew of films that have tried to be the next Home Alone. None have come close to being as good, but perhaps the best attempt came from Unaccompanied Minors. The Davenport kids are flying to seeing their father for the holidays when they are stuck in Cleveland by a massive snow storm. When they get there, they discover they are just two of dozens of kids who are stuck at the same airport, trapped in a conference room under the watchful eye of the airports ruthless administrator, (Lewis Black) who's not all that fond of children. Together with some of the more unique personalities, the Davenports stage an escape and wreck havoc on the airport, determined to have fun during the holidays, even if it is in a snowed in airport. Yes, this is a kids movie with all the cheesy jokes and kid stuff that comes along with it, but what makes it unique is all the different personalities. The six kids are from all different parts of the country and are all from different family structures and different socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning they all had very different lives and very different ideas on what the definition of fun is. The culmination of the different personalities and how they all come together is what makes this film unique and quite frankly pretty special. The young cast is pretty talented as well, featuring Brett Kelly from Bad Santa as well as Tyler Williams from Everybody Hates Chris. The young cast also gets help from veteran comedians Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, and Rob Corddry. The combination of young comedians and veteran comedians adds another dynamic similar to the one set up by the characters in the film. As well as the mixing of characters personalities, you're also getting a wide variety of comedic styles in the film. The bottom line, Unaccompanied Minors may be a kids Christmas movie, but there is a whole lot to like about it, from the writing, to the in depth character development, the mixing of different comedic styles, and even the unique settings. It's not quite Home Alone, but as close as anyone's come since 1990.

The airport is snowed in, and all flights are canceled. All the unaccompanied minors are rounded up and put in a locked room. Wilmer Valderrama tries and fails to control the rambunctious lot. Five kids (Tyler James Williams, Dyllan Christopher, Brett Kelly, Gia Mantegna, Quinn Shephard) escape and run rampant.The four main kid leads are perfectly likable with good chemistry. This could have been 'The Breakfast Club' lite. I think director Paul Feig is trying for that feeling. But the script doesn't have it. Lewis Black is way too outlandish as a villain. There is way too much childishness. Unlike 'The Breakfast Club', this doesn't have the insightfulness or the relevance. And bringing out 'The Kids in the Hall' make no difference at all. It could have been so much better.

Described as Home Alone in an airport, this sounded like an easily digestible Christmas themed film, as it turned out, it was slightly difficult to swallow, you might easily choke on how lame it is. Basically six children, Spencer Davenport (Dyllan Christopher) with sister Katherine (Dominique Saldaña), Timothy 'Beef' Wellington (Brett Kelly), Charlie Goldfinch (Everybody Hates Chris's Tyler James Williams), Grace Conrad (Gina Mantegna) and Donna Malone (Quinn Shephard) have all arrived on Christmas Eve at the Midwestern Hoover International Airport. As unaccompanied minors they are made to wait in the UM room until further notice, but Spencer, Beef, Charlie, Grace and Donna escape with the start of a big squabble, and they explore the airport to wreak havoc. Eventually, after getting underage manicures, playing with emergency equipment, ordering and eating food without paying, messing in a toy shop, and destroying things, the children are caught. As punishment, airport boss Oliver Porter (Man of the Year's Lewis Black) says the five troublemakers are not allowed to go to the hotel provided as a result of being snowed in with no operational flights. With the not so effective Zach Van Bourke (Wilmer Valderrama) keeping an eye on them, it is easy for the kids to escape again, and while Beef goes in search for a Christmas for Spencer's sister Katherine, a big believer in Santa and the Christmas spirit, the rest stay in the airport. The four kids are hiding in the unclaimed luggage hold, opening bags and playing with the contents inside, and they are lucky to escape from Mr. Porter again, and Spencer to get a doll as a present for Katherine. Finding walkie talkies with video recorders, the kids escape and manage to get outside to sledge to the hotel where Katherine and other kids are being held, but Mr. Porter catches them on arrival. The four kids are placed in separate prison style rooms with the walkie-talkies handy to talk to, but also to record themselves on video to put over the camera and escape through the above vents. They drop into the room where all the Christmas decorations have been hidden, and Beef returns with a Christmas tree, so Spencer and the gang decide to decorate the airport with all the stuff. Mr. Porter does spot them in the act, but his heart is changed for the good, and meanwhile Spencer's environmental father Sam Davenport (Hot Tub Time Machine's Rob Corddry) is close to getting to them, despite some mishaps. In the end, Christmas Day, all the people in the airport wake up to decorations, Katherine's Christmas spirit is confirmed with a present and the arrival of Mr. Porter dressed as Santa, and all the kids promise to keep in touch. Also starring Paget Brewster as Valerie Davenport and Jessica Walter as Cindi. The critics got this right that this is more for the younger audience, the kids are typical Breakfast Club style characters that are mischievous and then touchy-feely, and it is filled with pretty tedious meant to be funny moments, a rather dull Christmas comedy. Adequate!

Few things are more deterministic than kiddie genres, and therefore few things less interesting. One of the things I notice in these, going back before John Hughes, is how the world of kids is divided up. Here there are 5 or six types, depending on how you count. Its extremely important that you recognize these are the right types in order for all else to work. What's new — or seems new — are two character types. One is the black kid, who other than a jive number, plays a type that is more deeply human than racial. Its a notable evolution.The other is that the "rich girl" is not only sympathetic without changing, but she's lovely. To play what I think are supposed to be 12 year olds, they chose a darling 16 year old. She looks a lot like Anna Popplewell, that 20 year old playing a 14 year old in Narnia 2. Its the same general type as Scarlett Johansonn: full lips and full cheeks. Also Ann Hathaway.I do not think this is a trivial evolution. It seems that we are well into an era where women's and girls' screen faces are meant to communicate with lips only rather than full faces, or eyes as it once was. Renee Zellweger and Julia Roberts are probably the first big names who practice this style of acting exclusively. I'm not sure what it means. And I'm not sure what it means to merge this ideal with the supposedly spoiled rich girl. But it seems significant, a significant reshuffling of archetypes.It accompanies a more obvious shift. These are all kids from some sort of dysfunctional family. The usual style would be to have parents. If you were missing one, it was because they died. Then the parents could be virtually absent by simply being too dumb to matter. Its more theatrical to show absence by having partial absence. So this all seems significant, even though the movie, well its a waste.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.