Unaccompanied Minors

Unaccompanied Minors
Promotional poster
Directed by	Paul Feig
Produced by	Michael Aguilar Lauren Shuler Donner
Written by	Jacob Meszaros Mya Stark
Starring	Dyllan Christopher Lewis Black Tyler James Williams Wilmer Valderrama Brett Kelly Gina Mantegna Quinn Shephard
Music by	Michael Andrews
Cinematography	Christopher Baffa
Editing by	George Folsey, Jr. Brad E. Wilhite
Studio	Village Roadshow Pictures The Donners' Company
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	December 8, 2006
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$26 million
Box office	$30,994,214

Unaccompanied Minors (called Grounded in the UK) is a 2006 comedy film directed by Paul Feig and starring Dyllan Christopher, Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, Tyler James Williams, Brett Kelly, Gina Mantegna, and Quinn Shephard. Unaccompanied Minors has been rated PG by the MPAA for "mild rude humor and language". It is based on a true story by Susan Burton first told on the public radio show This American Life under the title "In the Event of an Emergency, Put Your Sister in an Upright Position".^[1]

Plot

Six unaccompanied minors — Spencer Davenport, his little sister, Katherine, Charlie Goldfinch, Timothy "Beef" Wellington, Grace Conrad, and Donna Malone — are snowed in at the Hoover International Airport for Christmas Eve. Donna, Spencer, Grace and Beef escape the chaotic UM room to find some fun (whilst Charlie escapes out of need to go to the bathroom).

Now free, they make a mess in the airport: Grace, a rich girl, exfoliates herself in the airport lounge; Beef transforms the emergency equipment room into his own amusement park; Spencer orders an astronomical amount of junk food in the cafe and leaves it without paying; Charlie finds a working bathroom, but goes on to use a karaoke machine at the electronic shop; and Donna commits grand theft auto, destroying whatever is in her path.

Once apprehended, they are taken back to the UM room and discover that the rest of the minors have been moved to a lodge, and, as a punishment from the grouchy head of passenger relations, Oliver Porter, they will stay in the UM room over Christmas Eve. Knowing that it would break Katherine's faith in Santa Claus if she does not receive a present by the next day, Spencer asks that, in exchange for a plan to get out again, the other kids will help him make Christmas come true for his sister, which they agree to. Spencer's plan is a success, and they give Zach Van Bourke, the friendly clerk who is guarding them, the slip, but with the five of them missing, the entire airport security is put on the lookout.

Beef escapes to find a tree for Katherine. While out looking, he remembers the saying that his mother’s rude boyfriend told him, “Men are made, not born”. This saying gives him the courage to pursue the biggest tree for Katherine.

Meanwhile, the other four go looking for a present for Katherine in the unclaimed baggage room, Mr. Porter and several security guards following them, but they manage to hide before Mr. Porter could notice. When Mr. Porter bumps into a suitcase Charlie has hidden in and he orders his men to put it on the conveyor. Donna notices this and after Mr. Porter and his men are gone, she hurries to the conveyor to save Charlie.

Spencer and Grace follow them until they reach the unclaimed baggage room. They experiment with all the luggage and find cool stuff. Spencer finds the perfect doll to give Katherine, and Charlie finds walkie-talkies with video recorders. They are found and pursued by airport personnel, but make it to the lodge in time, through destroying the vents, crawling in the ceiling and sledding in canoes, to place the doll in Katherine's arms before she wakes up.

The five kids are caught, returned to the airport, and locked into separate rooms. Escaping again with the help of the walkie-talkies, the minors find time to decorate the airport with decorations Mr. Porter had locked away. Beef returns, much to his friends' surprise, with the largest tree he could find (by trading his most prized possession — an Aquaman action figure). The minors also find presents for everyone from the lost luggage room. Their kindness manages to change the manager's heart.

Also, Spencer's and Katherine's father, an environmentalist, drives from Pennsylvania to pick up his children. When his biodiesel Benz blows up, he is forced to make the choice to either drive a Hummer or not get to his children in time. He arrives Christmas morning. The children promise to keep in touch, Grace, whose parents are out of town, is allowed to come home with the Davenports. Donna kisses Charlie, and Beef meets a girl, to whom he starts telling of his part in the decorations.

Cast

• Dyllan Christopher as Spencer Davenport
• Tyler James Williams as Charlie Goldfinch
• Gina Mantegna as Grace Conrad
• Quinn Shephard as Donna Malone
• Brett Kelly as Timothy "Beef" Wellington
• Wilmer Valderrama as Zach Van Bourke/Van Dork
• Dominique Saldaña as Katherine Davenport
• Lewis Black as Oliver Porter
• Wayne Federman as Airport Attendant
• Teri Garr as Valerie's Sister (uncredited)
• Mario Lopez as Part-Time Substitute minors watcher
• Paget Brewster as Valerie Davenport
• Rob Corddry as Sam Davenport
• Jessica Walter as Cindi
• Rob Riggle as Head Guard Hoffman
• David Koechner as Ernie
• Tony Hale as Alan Davies
• Cedric Yarbrough as Melvin Goldfinch
• Kristen Wiig as Carole Malone
• Al Roker as Himself

Reception

Unaccompanied Minors was not an initial success at the box office, having earned only $16,655,224 domestically against its $26 million budget, not counting DVD sales. Its worldwide box office gross was $21,994,214. The film received generally negative to mixed reviews from critics, It has a "Rotten" rating of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 43 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[2]

References

1. ^ Episode #175: "Babysitting", This American Life.
2. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/unaccompaniedminors?q=unaccompanied

External links

• Unaccompanied Minors
• Unaccompanied Minors at the Internet Movie Database
• Unaccompanied Minors at AllRovi
• Unaccompanied Minors at Box Office Mojo
• Unaccompanied Minors at Rotten Tomatoes