Unaccompanied Minors (PG) ★★½
While it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, Unaccompanied Minors is at least decent, harmless, heart-warming fun. It’s also a surefire way to keep the kiddies smiling and occupied this pre-Christmas.
Story
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all...hell is about to break loose! It starts when a snowstorm grounds all planes at Chicago’s fictional Hoover International Airport. Nobody’s happy to be potentially spending Xmas at an airport but least of all are the Davenport siblings, Spencer (Dyllan Christopher) and his little sis Katherine (Dominique Saldana), as well as airport security boss Oliver (Lewis Black). The two kids are escorted to the airport’s “Unaccompanied Minors Lounge,” where kids run wild and terrorize pushover Zach Van Bourke (Wilmer Valderrama), who acts as chief airport babysitter. One look at the madness is all it takes for Spencer and Katherine to bust out along with fellow kiddie anarchists Charlie (Tyler James Williams), Timothy (Brett Kelly), Donna (Quinn Shephard) and Grace (Gina Mantegna). They embark on a pratfall-heavy game of cat and mouse with Oliver, who is the Grinch to their collective Santa Clause, as they try and salvage Christmas--and their families.
Acting
Unaccompanied Minors makes some odd but admirable choices when it comes to the cast, with virtually every single actor attempting a “Frat Pack” mutiny--Daily Show mainstay Black is joined by “correspondent” Rob Corddry as the Davenports’ Hummer-hating dad, not to mention parts from The Office’s B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling, Arrested Development’s Tony Hale and Jessica Walter, SNL’s Rob Riggle and Kristen Wiig, Paget Brewster, David Koechner and a rare Kids in the friggin’ Hall (Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney) sighting. But the “Who’s that?” cameos aside, the screen time is hogged by Black, Valderrama and the children. Black, the notoriously vulgar curmudgeon of a comedian, shows great range and skill by dulling his shtick down but not so much that the kids watching won’t crack up, while Valderrama’s performance is the same as his role--that of a bumbling, easily overmatched lackey. With all the proverbial child actors in the mix, it can seem a little Star Search-y, but Williams (Everybody Hates Chris) steals most scenes with his amazing overall talent, while Mantegna (Joe’s daughter) fares well, too. Kelly (the bullied kid in Bad Santa) is exploited for his physicality and Christopher will likely go on to be a great actor, even if he seems too seasoned at such a young age.
Direction
The reason for the off-the-beaten-path cast is simple: director Paul Feig. The occasional actor has in the past directed episodes of The Office and the late Arrested Development, Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks. It also might explain why he fell for a script--by Jacob Meszaros and Mya Stark--that takes a few stabs at grown-up comedy (i.e. Corddry’s character has a car that runs on vegetable oil). Such jokes will be lost on the exclusively preadolescent audience, but almost all else will reel them in. Feig also seems adept at making the oft-unfunny (physical pratfalls) somewhat funny, and he does so with little mention of bodily functions. Of course, he stays true to the formula, but all kid flicks are the ultimate exercises in contrivance--Feig just chooses to treat the viewers like kids instead of idiots.
Bottom Line
Hollywood.com rated this film 2 1/2 stars.
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