This is the kind of film you put on for your kids when they beg to watch a Christmas movie but don't want to watch Rankin Bass. This movie contains extremely base humor, with a weak attempt at overall plot and heart. The best I can say is that it has a bit of actual heart when the twist is revealed, but other than that it feels forced.
The plot is about Children traveling alone in airplanes, and how a bunch of them get caught in one airport because of a storm. The main plot is that this group of kids tries to have some fun, but the big mean airport owner doesn't want them to because he's the Grinch! and the fact the kids are all delinquents, breaking several laws and rules, mostly put in place for their safety and the safety of others.
Oh, I should note, the bad guy is played by Lewis Black, noted comedian. He is not funny in the slightest in this movie. He is basically like Aasif Mandvi in the Last Airbender movie; he was chosen because he seemed like he fit the part, but no one put any thought into it. The villain shouldn't have been such a hammy, over-the-top actor, it should have just been a normal guy with no real star power, who isn't too ugly.
I'm not going to even bother summarizing what happens in the movie... You can pretty much predict the entire plot given the fact it is a bunch of delinquents going up against a grinch at Christmas. It isn't really funny. If I may refer back to my sliding scale of comedy, This entire movie runs off of Humor. It does things it expects to be funny, but never work. The reason for this is that the Children are too good at what they do, and the adults are too inept. Everyone has to be competent for humor to become funny. I realize it is hard to write slapstick when everyone is competent, but then again you shouldn't really write slapstick.
There is almost no way to improve this movie. Unless... Watch the trailer for a sec:
Imagine Orlando Bloom playing Lewis Black's part. It's completely out-there, but what if he did? He isn't really notable for playing very angry characters, so there might be a laugh to be had for seeing him try to play a Grinch. (Or Jim Carrey, he has prior experience playing a Grinch, and at least his hammy and angry performance would be hilarious.)
Second, remove the base humor (you saw a lot of it in the trailer) altogether, and replace it with higher-class humor. You know, jokes for adults rather than for kids. They don't have to be sexual in nature or black comedy, just jokes that aim a lot higher (figuratively and literally). That would significantly improve the movie.
Okay, from the ashes comes a movie I really want to direct, "Unaccompanied Minors: Fixer Sue Edition" Featuring Orlando Bloom as the antagonist.
This has been Fixer Sue, adding another movie to the list of films I really want to see a good remake of.
No comments:
Post a Comment