Really Surprised!

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

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.

OK, so on Facebook, I do reviews of forgotten movies/TV shows/books/etc. from my childhood on Throwback Thursday (I go above and beyond), and for Christmas, this was my choice, and it was the perfect choice! Usually on TBT, I have an amazing memory with the movies, but with this movie (since I was reviewing it for Christmas, which is a special time), I decided to check it out from the library, and watch it again, and I was hit with nostalgia.I like this movie. It reminds me of my childhood, when kids movies were just about kids being kids. I miss those days. It reminds me of the days when technological things like cell phones weren't advanced (yet) and all you had was a flip phone. Yeah, before technology controlled our damn lives! This movie is a kid's dream: Just kids trapped in an airport having the time of their lives.I really like the Spencer kid, and how he's so determined to get anything done. These kids have some great chemistry together. I'm also surprised that he has a really nice sister, unlike most things like this, where the sister is an annoying brat.But there are things that I don't like about this movie, like the scenes with Spencer's dad trying to get to his kids. They're not funny, and they drag on. There's no importance to them. I think they should have put these on the deleted scenes for the DVD. The guards aren't really funny, but other than that, I really like this movie.If you're an adult reading this and you're about to watch this, go into it with the mind of a child. Just have fun with this movie. Just think back to the days when you were a kid, just the days when kids weren't focused on stuff like relationships and instead, were focused on being kids.So, with that said, pop this DVD in if you have the chance, and prepare to feel like a kid again! Don't look for Citizen Kane in this movie, just look for a good ol' fashioned kiddy good time!

A bunch of teenagers get stranded at a huge airport, and then decide to take it over and have a holiday of their own. apparently a bunch of vacation plans were made,, kids get dropped off, and all of a sudden Mother Nature decides that she has other plans,, stranding all the kids without adult supervision from their parents,, all that is left to keep the peace is Airport Security.. now you have teenager run amok in the airport,, so the antics start to fly fast and heavy,, lot's of laughs and pranks along the way,, you get to learn a little bit about a few of the character in the movie and such,, and one of the children tries to help one of the adults at the airport find his family or something along those lines,, all in all not a great movie,, but not a bad movie either,, pretty much right in the middle of the road.

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!