Grounded AKA Unaccompanied Minors (2006)

Kids having a bit of a riot while stranded in an airport, that's the premise of Grounded AKA Unaccompanied Minors and I must admit that while it did tick all of the usual boxes and while it did start off quite badly, I ended up quite enjoying myself with this one. It's not one that I'll rush to revisit any time soon, and I can't see it ending up with a place in my movie collection, but it has enjoyable moments here and there and it's certainly one that's easy enough to enjoy while the kids are laughing at it.

Basically, a bunch of kids are supposed to be flying on Christmas Eve, but the weather has put an end to that idea. When five of the kids (Charlie, Spencer, 'Beef', Grace and Donna) escape from the Unaccompanied Minors room they have a bit of fun in the airport before being caught by the unhappy head of customer relations (Lewis Black). They're taken back to the UM room and told that they will be staying there for the rest of Christmas Eve, despite the fact that the other kids have all now been taken to a nice lodge along the road. This is particularly bad news for Spencer (Dyllan Christopher), as he knows that he must find a way to get back to his little sister, who is now in the lodge, and ensure that a present "from Santa" is waiting for her when she wakes up. It's a battle of wills between the kids, the head of customer relations and his many staff (including Rob Riggle and Wilmer Valderrama).

Most parts of this movie, admittedly, have been done numerous times before. Better. The script by Jacob Meszaros and Mya Stark doesn't have much bite to it (although Black, Valderrama, Rob Riggle and Rob Corddry get some fun moments) and director Paul Feig simply hits the notes that everyone is waiting for, including at least two montage moments.

Thankfully, the cast adds a lot of fun to the proceedings. The focus may be on Spencer trying to make Christmas right for his sister (Dominique Saldana) but the others get plenty to do. Gia Mantegna is fine as Grace, a typical "princess" type who Spencer ends up taking quite a shine to. Quinn Shephard is the other girl of the group, Donna, a bit of a tomboy, but not without an admirer either. Brett Kelly is quiet, but makes his presence known, as 'Beef'. And last, but by no means least, Tyler James Williams steals the movie as cheeky, but charming, Charlie Goldfinch. Williams is probably best known to people who enjoyed his comedic skills in Everybody Hates Chris and he creates laughter once again, whether he's trying to survive being moved around an airport in a suitcase or getting his groove on with a funky bit of music (the best montage moment). I've already mentioned the adults enough, maybe even too much already, but they do fine with what they're given.

It might start off unsteady, and there's a finale that almost disappears under sugary sweetness, but this has a fun middle section and proves to be fairly amusing, thanks in no small part to Tyler James Williams. Kids should enjoy it, though they probably won't rush to watch it again either.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grounded-DVD/dp/B000MR9F5W/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1357051710&sr=1-1

Larry Crowne (2011)

When I sat down to watch Larry Crowne I admit that I wasn't expecting to like it. It just seemed as if it was something a bit too safe and twee and uninteresting. And, in a way, it was all of those things. Yet it was also quite enjoyable in an old-fashioned way, a vehicle for Tom Hanks to star in, direct and also write (with Nia Vardalos). He even finds a role for his wife, Rita Wilson.

Hanks is the titular character, a man who finds himself at a bit of a loss when he is fired from his job. Times are tough but Crowne hopes for the best when he enrols in some further education classes. One of those classes is being taught by Mrs Tainot (Julia Roberts), a woman who doesn't really have much enthusiasm for her job any more. Thankfully, Larry Crowne brings out the best in everyone. His teacher starts to properly teach, his classmates start trying to actually learn what they're being taught and the lovely Alvarez (Roxana Ortega) enjoys a new pet project when she decides to help "Lance Corona" make himself a bit more socially active and cool.

Larry Crowne is actually, for almost 3/4 of the runtime, a good film. Hanks is as likeable as ever, Roberts is okay and the support from Roxana Ortega, Wilmer Valderrama, Pam Grier, George Takei, Cedric The Entertainer, Bryan Cranston and others (including a fun couple of scenes for Rob Riggle) really help to lift what is, essentially, average material. At best. From the opening titles, accompanied by a lively ELO track, to about the halfway point, I was able to overlook many of the negatives and enjoy myself. However, once it gets to the halfway point, the negatives start to become harder to overlook.

The biggest failing that the movie has, and that builds and builds up to an end credit sequence which involves characters actually waving to the audience, is a certain smugness. It's almost as if the movie makes the assumption that everyone will find the main characters so endearing that they'll be sad to see the end credits roll. Hanks does well as director, nothing flashy but he keeps everything nicely paced, though he's not as talented in the writing department, which piles up cliche after cliche.

I saw the trailer for this movie, as did many people, and thought "well, that's probably not for me". As the first half of the movie kept moving nicely along I started to change my mind. Maybe I'd been too cynical and the fact that this was just a decent movie with a bit of a sweet, soft centre wasn't all that bad. But as the sweetness started to build up to levels threatening to give me dental problems and/or put me into a diabetic coma I was able to see that my first impressions were correct.

There are many other people who will enjoy this much more than I did, people who want something that's slightly removed from every other comic book movie, zombie flick or shoot 'em up, and I can see the appeal. I've actually rated the movie as slightly above average because there were a number of little moments, even if they were covered in cheese, that I enjoyed. I laughed, I wanted the lead character to do well, I was won over. The film succeeded. For that first half, at least.

6/10

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