Unaccompanied Minors (Paul Feig, 2006) - B
I complain about Christmas movies a lot, to the point where I wonder why I bother with them anymore -- for the record, I refused to see Deck the Halls -- but this one is bright, spare on the "Christmas Spirit" pandering, and legitimately pretty funny. Though it's aimed squarely at the 8-12 set, there's enough non sequitur silliness (the slinky-obsessed security guard, the disturbingly cheery and possibly alcoholic sister/aunt) to amuse the rest of us; Feig was an integral part of Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development, and there's the added treat of two guest appearances by the latter show's now presumably out-of-work stars. The whole thing runs a little long at 90 minutes, but there's some decent slapstick, a charmingly adolescent performance by Dyllan Christopher, and the utter joy of watching Lewis Black as the airport "Director of Passenger Relations" harangue his underlings about security, "from the Latin securitas." Mileage may very, but for a modern Christmas movie, "unobnoxious" may be the highest praise of all.
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