Review of 'Home Alone'
Over the years I have managed to avoid watching this film because it always looked so slapstick, brutal (kid using pretty lethal methods to keep burglars out of his house) and stupid. This year I figured I would give it a miss. I found it slapstick, brutal, and, at least to a certain extent, stupid…though there are a few redeeming bits like the soundtrack by none other than John Williams (of Star Wars fame) and a nice side story featuring a misunderstood neighbour.
The extended McAllister family are preparing to spend Christmas in Paris, gathering at Peter (John Heard) and Kate's home (Catherine O'Hara) on the night before their departure. Their youngest child Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is the subject of ridicule by his older siblings then ruins dinner when attacking his old brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) so is sent to the attic as punishment. While the family sleeps heavy winds cause a power outage, resetting the clocks in the house and causing the family to oversleep. Panicking to get to the airport in time for their flight they leave Kevin in the attic. Kevin revels in his freedom, doing all the things he has never been allowed to do, but is frightened of his neighbour Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom) who is rumoured to have killed his family as well as two burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) who have been staking out the neighbourhood for a few days. On the flight, Kate realizes what they have done and on arrival in Paris they attempt to get home immediately but find there are no flights available though eventually finds a flight to a different city. Meanwhile Kevin manages to keep the burglars at bay with various ingenious tricks but they soon realize the child is actually all alone and make make their plans to enter the house…
The first 3/4 of the film are quite good as the film premise is set up with the next bit (Kevin defending the home) hugely over the top and, as I said above, brutal with a nice tidy up at the end. In this film while Culkin is quite cocky it is not as overblown as it becomes in later films here he is amusing and mostly innocent which mostly works. His ingenuity in protecting the house and managing to get by on his own is perhaps a bit hard to believe but it is amusing. It is the side story with the neighbour that makes this film more than it would appear and, indeed, the main story line is wrapped up absurdly simply with a banal reuniting with his mother (giving little away). Of course, the main storyline is quite contrived and suggests Kevin's parents would be thrown in jail for abandonment rather than a smile and a general “oh well” response.
Largely mindless holiday entertainment with a somewhat nasty streak thrown in (don't think too long on what is going on) though there are a few nice bits thrown in that somewhat redeem it…
Rating: “Average, but who wants to be average?”
Review Date: 2025-12-31
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 1990
Length: 103 minutes
Genre: Comedy
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/
Other reviewed films by Chris Columbus:
- Pixels (2015)
- The Thursday Murder Club (2025)