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Unaccompanied Minors (2006) More at IMDbPro »

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48 comments in total

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22 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
Nice feel-good movie, 5 April 2007

Author: imdb1 from Amsterdam

I just watched this movie and I really don't understand why people think this is a horrible movie. It's a good movie, I really enjoyed it! Sure, there isn't some complex plot with several twists; it's just a relaxed ride, a feel good movie. It's un-complex. As un-complex as children ARE. You remember how good live was when you were young? No worries (well, for most people that's true anyway ;). The things the kids in this movie do are things that you CAN only do when you are still young: the adults are going to forgive you. They are doing things that no adult could ever get away with, but that is exactly why it made me feel good: you just know that there won't be consequences; it's just pure adventure and fun.

I see a lot of B-movies lately; were the acting is REALLY REALLY bad. The kind of movies that I turn off half way, disgusted that I wasted my time with it. Imho, THAT are the kind of movies that should fill up the bottom 250 on IMDb. The acting in this movie however, is good! The kids put down some professional acting (not perfect, but in most cases that is totally to blame on the director-- the movie doesn't need it either, this isn't a "The Good Son (1993)") and the adults act as adults typically act in kids movies, nothing that annoyed me.

I think that any adult can enjoy this movie, if they keep an open mind, like children and still are enough of a kid in their heart to remember how (good) it was in their childhood.

Don't expect anything deep - just sit back and allow yourself to enjoy a while without worries.

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25 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Seemed a little childish..., 6 December 2006

Author: Jane_Deaux from United States

You should know that I had decided I'd rather watch "Minors" than "Santa Clause 3" or "Deck the Halls," so going into the movie I was probably more lenient with it than I might have otherwise been...

But anyway, I saw this and I thought it was okay. It reminded me a little of Home Alone with more kids and antics. I thought the four main kids--the ones stuck in the airport--had good chemistry and went well together. The adults (Black, Valderrama), while they've done okay in other movies/shows, seemed to be "acting down." In fact, the whole movie kind of seemed that way.

These kids must be 13 or 14 but they're acting more like eight or nine. I'm sure it was as the director wanted but even the adults were talking slow and using lots of animated hand gestures. At the very beginning of the movie, one girl sits on a young, hip Santa's lap and tells him he "hot" and then the rest of the movie has the exaggerated and childish feeling of an episode of Blue's Clues. But, since I was ready to watch and enjoy this movie, I laughed at all the falling down, food-throwing, name-calling activity.

I noticed a theme. I think this theme or message is what some parents will like about the movie and what some might decide to steer clear of: children of divorce do well on their own, perhaps even better than kids whose parents are still married. My parents divorced when I was 14 and I don't really feel like it had a huge impact on my life but today's kids are... different. Maybe "divorce kids" will enjoy this divorce kid fantasy more than everyone else. Parents will approve of it because, even with the happy ending, the divorced parents in the film were still divorced in the end.

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18 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
Silly Christmas diversion, 5 December 2006

Author: Gregory Eichelberger from San Diego

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Hey, I've seen this film before – it's called "The Breakfast Club." No, wait, that film was actually clever and funny. This rehash of every kid-left-alone movie has incredibly cute children, but very little laughs - and even with a schmaltzy ending - very little heart.

Five kids from different parts of the country, normal kid Spencer (Dyllan Christopher), weakling Charlie (Tyler James'Williams), fat boy Timothy (Brett Kelly), spoiled princess Grace (Gina Mantenga) and tomboy Grace (Quinn Shephard), find themselves together at a Chicago airport.

Put together in a dungeon-like basement for kids traveling without parents, they soon escape and make an effort to find Spencer's little sister, Katherine (Dominique Saldana).

This takes place as grumpy security manager (comedian Lewis Black) and his three idiot guards (former Kids in the Hall players Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney) pursue the indifferent and resourceful moppets.

At least Black, whose acerbic tirades on "The Daily Show" can be hilarious; and his well-received books and stand-up specials draw much attention, is funnier here than he was in "Man of the Year." All the while, we are treated to unfunny sequences featuring Spencer and Katherine's moronic, tree-hugging dad, whose vegetable oil-burning vehicle explodes while he is driving to pick them up. Luckily, a chainsaw-toting redneck cretin provides the guy with a new Hummer for the rest of the trip.

Still, this devolves into another "the kids are really smart while the adults are idiots who end up completely defeated and befuddled in the end" kind of movies. That was all right in "Home Alone" but it doesn't really work when you care nothing about any of these young characters.

A sappy conclusion, featuring a reformed Black and the arrival of a deadbeat father, along with everyone getting a new girl/boyfriend (except the fat kid, because we know fat people in Hollywood films do not deserve any sort of happiness), adds to the overall stupidity.

Saw several critics on the Internet Movie Data Base that actually gave 10 stars to this picture. Maybe "Unaccompanied Minors" is just as good as "From Here To Eternity," "On the Waterfront," "The Godfather," "The Grapes of Wrath," "Lawrence of Arabia," "West Side Story" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to these people, but I'm afraid I'll just have to drop the bar a star or two.

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22 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Hey, hey, this isn't a bad movie at all, 21 December 2006

Author: FrostyHornyPie from United States

Well, I do give it a medium rating...not bad and not good, but if adults park their brains outside the theater before going in, they'll find it fun. Sure, you have to overlook the way the kids are smarter than the adults and the fact that firstly the security guards aren't bright enough to be working airport security and even so aren't villains but just guys trying to do their jobs. Anyway, the acting is good and the script isn't bad if you don't think too hard about it. The movie is after all targeted for a junior high level audience, but the filmmakers are skillful enough to make it enjoyable for older viewers. Sure it's a reworking and multiplication of the Home Alone theme and Christmas setting. As other reviewers mentioned, there are echos also of The Breakfast Club and The Terminal. However, it's fluffy, harmless fun and there are worse movies out there right now. BTW, how did this get down to #2 on the worst list when Deck The Halls which isn't half as good is out there?

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Strictly for under tens, 6 January 2008

Author: Mel J from Dundee, Scotland

I had the misfortune of catching 'Grounded' the other day and found it to be a rather pointless little film not worth the ninety minutes or so it takes to view it, and I'm usually lenient on Christmas films. The film revolves around five kids of divorced parents, aged between twelve and fifteen, who are travelling alone before Christmas to visit their other parent. When the airport in snowed in, they go on a rampage with predictable 'Home Alone'-style tricks and out-smarting of airport staff.

I can't complain too much about the acting of the kids. It's nothing special but neither are they terrible, although it is only Tyler James Williams (better known as Chris, from the TV show 'Everybody Hates Chris') who stands out for his expressive ways and wide-eyed sweetness. The adult cast are forgettable since they barely make much of an appearance other than the brief scenes where they come across as inept losers in face of the kids' antics.

'Grounded' fails, largely, because the five kids are far too old to be carrying on like the eight-year-olds they are depicted as nor is there much of a point to their unruly behaviour. They were locked up because they acted like brats and don't deserve to be portrayed as heroes we should all hail. At least, in 'Home Alone', Kevin was not only just eight but he was justified in his tricks because he was defending his home. The toilet humour and the dumbed down show of kids outsmarting big, stupid adults only added to why this film is aimed at undiscerning youngsters under the age of ten. What didn't help elevate the film was the way it portrayed divorced kids as being 'special' and somehow less well-off than children of married parents when there are many well-adjusted kids of divorced parents out there who would be offended by this idea.

This film is pointless for anyone who's seen 'Home Alone', a superior Christmassy film about a kid trumping the adults. I can't see many folk past primary school-age who will find much interest in it.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Can you say 'Product Placement'?, 25 December 2007

Author: shadowzen-1 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Let's see... Biodiesel bad, Hummer good. Yeah, right. I'm sure there's tons more but that one really was blatant (and just incredibly wrong!) Plot: Thin as new ice. Acting: Decent enough for what it is (Christmas story, straight to video)... In fact the only reason I'm watching this POS is that it's Christmas Day and this has made the HBO Christmas Crap List. Lewis Black was OK as the Big Bad Mean Man... I'm still waiting for that Movie that really fits Lewis (as, I expect, is he). Fez, from That 70's Show, plays the Good Cop to Lewis's Bad. Fez is incredibly bland. I had to look who was playing the part up (Fez has gotten larger since the 70's, lol). The Kid's were cute at times and the gags were sometimes funny. The 'Chase Scenes' are way overdone (the sled scene in particular). There's a few insider cool scenes with The Kids In The Hall crew, but they are brief and few. Give the show a mark up for little in the way of Fart Jokes. Fart Jokes are just not cool, mmk? Well, that about covers it. The Kids outsmart the Adults. Look for this in your Holday Discount DVD Bin at Walmart next Christmas. Oh yeah, there's some modern bands playing Christmas songs. Bleh. I guess I'm just a Grinch, oh well.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
typically average but good, 21 January 2008

Author: bob362 from United Kingdom

the movie grounded was typicall of it's movie contestants,it defined most meanings and explored all emotions possible to explore.the main thing i liked about the movie is that it represents most common kids and i have to say the acting was spectacular,i mean absolutely fascinating but all in all i have to be serious and give the movie a chilling average 7 out of 10 because the movie is not eye cathing and in many terms great but i do admit as a child myself i am overwhelmed with words to this comment. i especially liked the bonding scenes and the promises that were fully successful and many made the overall movie have a happy ending i do contest with anyone who calls this movie a waste of time because i do not understand how? but it was clearly sad but happy and truly shocked me with the comedetic scenes and lines etc to finalise my compliment to this movie grounded i bid you a due and only advise you to watch the movie.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
This Was Bad... REALLY Bad... EVEN TERRIBLE..., 4 December 2008

Author: Dragoneyed363 from United States

To be honest, I didn't watch the movie on my own free will. I was forced by my family, who every year at Christmas we watch a movie together and when they picked this one out I was ready to slap them all. I had no intentions whatsoever of seeing this movie, but I did, and when it was over, I wish I hadn't. It was SO unfunny and a complete waste of time. The acting sucked, script was probably found in the trash, comedy - don't even go there - and it hardly was entertaining. I still have to admit that there have been worse and with all the problems I had with this move, I respected it and gave it a little slack because I'm not THAT into movies like these, but overall it was a flop. I hated it and never want to see it again.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
one is too high a rating, 12 September 2007

Author: alan_v35 from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I am a fun-loving guy. I like to laugh, hear jokes and stuff like that. This is why I often like to see a comedy – even if its bad, it will give me a chuckle or two. Even those aimed at younger viewers are always good for a giggle, or at least a guffaw. Well, not always, I guess. This Home Alone wannabe is as funny as blood on the sidewalk. It has poor acting, a yawner of a story, jokes that are not funny, and a fine selection of stock characters that have been so overused by Hollywood, that the whole movie is as appealing as a commercial that you have seen six times in the last hour. If I have been a little wordy, and unclear, up to this point, let me say succinctly. This movie sucks.

The premise here is that six youngsters, ranging in age from around seven to 14, are flying as unaccompanied minors, when a blizzard strands them at some airport somewhere, where they promptly set out on a mission of mischief that uses a lot of unfunny ideas and drab comic violence (particularly voice changing groin strikes – those are ALWAYS funny, right?) mixed in with toilet humor (Ingenious! Who would have thought of that?). There is an evil airport manager or something, who's as pleasant as an evening alone with an electric cattle prod and a mentally, deranged convict named Sparky. Now, that's not as fun as it sounds (never mind how I know!) bu it would probably still make a better movie than this one. I could go on, but I think I have made my point.

It starts bad and it gets worse. It's not interesting and it's not funny. The only possible positive aspect to watching this might be a new appreciation for the value of every moment of the precious gift called life. Maniac out.

This work was first posted on realmoviereview.com

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5 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
My kids liked it, 30 December 2006

Author: mysterylover3591 from United States

I gave this movie a 5, which is a compromise. There were a few smiles in it, but mostly not such a great plot - but my kids, 11 and 14, enjoyed it, the 11 year old the most. If I were making the decision for myself alone, I wouldn't watch it until it came on TV, but it was worth it for a couple hours of enjoyment for the kids. The acting by the child actors was surprisingly good; it was the story that was not well-developed. I guess I should have realized that it wasn't that great when I discovered that it was located in the smallest theater in the multiplex! Overall, I'm sorry I spent over $17.00 to get us all in, but somewhat mollified by the fact that my daughter laughed out loud, repeatedly.

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