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Grounded (2006)

Director: Paul Feig

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Synopsis

Grounded revolves around five children who get stuck in an airport when flying between the homes of divorced parents at Christmas. Determined to have fun while they wait for the snow to melt, they are chased around by a Scrooge-esque security guard in between sessions of sledging in a canoe, sliding down luggage chutes and riding electronic carts.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Hard to believe this excrementally awful pre-teen flick comes from the same studio as the hugely entertaining ‘Happy Feet’. The utterly absurd plot revolves around the naughty antics of some stereotypical teens stranded by a blizzard at a US airport on Christmas Eve. Confined to an ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ room, the bored kids break out and proceed to drive the airport’s socially inept passenger relations manager and his bumbling security guards round the twist by stealing airport buggies, breaking into storage rooms, tampering with suitcases and ordering expensive food they can’t pay for, before finally performing a good festive deed, as if they’d planned it all along. Yeah, sure.

This ‘Home Alone’-style kids vs adults scenario is meant to play as lighthearted anarchic comedy. We’re supposed to sympathise with the poor little blighters and think of them as kids just having a bit of fun, rather like dysfunctional parents might do on hearing their son had just destroyed the local bus shelter. Irresponsible content notwithstanding, it’s the low standard of filmmaking that really defies belief, which is why I haven’t given it any stars at all.

Author: Derek Adams

Time Out London Issue 1895: December 13-20 2006

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