Paul Feig first made a splash writing for Freaks and Geeks before going on to direct episodes of Arrested Development and The Office. In a gesture of good faith, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, B.J. Novak, and Mindy Kaling all got Feig’s back, making cameos in Unaccompanied Minors, a comedy about a group of kids who incur the wrath of a scrooge played by Lewis Black by turning his airport into their playpen. The film has an excellent pedigree, but when it poops it stinks of a Tim Allen movie. After the creepy fat kid from Bad Santa promises to track down a Christmas tree, the four remaining stereotypes—a prissy black kid who faints at the sight of Santa Claus, a tom boy Lewis’s nasty Oliver refers to as Ellen Degeneres, a fetch girl with the heart of a geek, and the requisite pasty-white savior who boosts everyone’s Christmas spirit—are left to run around the airport by themselves, sliding down baggage conveyor belts and sifting through treasures in the unclaimed baggage department. In a post-9/11 world, their unchecked behavior doesn’t make a lick of sense; neither does their uncanny ability to hack into a security camera’s video feed with their walkie talkies. Upright Citizen’s Brigade alum and Daily Show regular Rob Corddry almost saves the day, bringing a surprising warmth to a dorky dad who must decide whether saving his children is worth it if it means driving a diesel-powered Hummer. But for every up there is a down, none lower than Wilmer Valderrama who, as an ostensibly Mexican airport drone, yells “Ay carumba!” after the unaccompanied minors knock him to the ground. Way to represent, dog!
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