It’s that time of the year for Christmas month. Today, let’s look back at a beloved Christmas classic from the same guy who wrote “The Breakfast Club,” “Ferris Buller’s Day Off” and other well known movies, comes a Christmas film about a young boy who’s accidentally left behind and he must defend his home from a pair of burglars. The plot I’m referring to, is in fact, “Home Alone.”
Home Alone was released in 1990. (same year Goodfellas came out) At the time of it’s release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and it made a lot of money at the box office earning records. Overtime, the film eventually became an instant Christmas Classic. The film also spawned a sequel called “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York” with Macaulay Culkin, reprising his role as Kevin earning mixed results and a critical clunker called Home Alone 3. The “third installment” however, didn’t feature Macaulay returning as Kevin. Not kidding, they replaced everybody from the first two movies. Especially Marv & Harry!
Home Alone also catapulted Chris Columbus’ career as an established filmmaker allowing him to direct more films including Mrs. Doubtfire, and the first two Harry Potter films.
The following review doesn’t contain any SPOILERS whatsoever. You’re okay to check it out, just so you know if you’ve never ever seen Home Alone.
Nice & Naughty Elements
Nice: Macaulay Culkin did a great job on his performance as Kevin McCallaster.
Joe Pesci & Daniel Stern, both did a hilarious job as a pair of bumbling home invaders. Their names are Harry & Marv, the main antagonists of the film.
Chris Columbus (first two Harry Potter films, Mrs. Doubtfire) did a decent job directing the film.
John Hughes wrote the script. He made sure to organize the storyline.
Fun Fact: Before Joe won the role as Harry, his pal/collaborator Robert De Niro, was originally gonna play his part, but turned it down and suggested Mr. Columbus that the role suits Joe better.
Other Cast Members such as Catherine O’Hara, the late John Heard & Kieran Culkin (Mac’s real life brother) all did a decent job for their performances
Character Development involving Kevin. First, he goes from a snarky no nonsense spoiled brat, to a nice kid with redeeming qualities who must defend his home from Harry & Marv.
Cinematography was shot perfectly without any technical difficulties.
Film Composer, John Williams, orchestrated the soundtrack to the film, filled with unforgettable tracks.
The late John Candy, (also a lifelong friend/collaborator of John Hughes) makes a prominent appearance.
There are funny moments that managed to give me a couple of laughs. Perhaps my favorite part is a movie-within-movie called “Angels With Filthy Souls.”
The Best Line in this film is, “Keep ya change ya filthy animal!” Guess who said it?
Besides my favorite line, Home Alone has memorable dialogue.
The Traps that Kevin crafted felt creative, he’s like the precursor to Jigsaw from the Saw franchise. To put the icing on the cake, the crooks earned themselves really big boo boos. There’s even an online theory about Kevin who might be Jigsaw.
Marv’s epic scream made me laugh so hard! I’m definitely gonna give him Bonus Points for screaming in agony!
Kevin defending his house from stupid crooks is basically a kids version of “Die Hard.”
Naughty: The film is surprisingly outdated like an expired driver’s license. TV Tropes would call an outdated film or television series as an “Unintentional Period Piece.” Now that we’re living in The Apple Era, it would’ve been anti-climatic if Kevin owned an iPhone to call his parents and the plot of Home Alone would’ve never existed from beginning, middle, and end!
Product Placement featuring the following brands such as, Pepsi, American Airlines, Playboy, Junior Mints, Frito Lay’s, Kraft, Wonder Bread, Tide, and Budget. Many brands predate Michael Bay’s heavy use of Product Placement.
An Optional Con for those who are big time arachnophobes like me, there’s a big spider in this movie. I really really hate spiders!
The Final Verdict: B, FOR BATTERY FULLY CHARGED!
Despite being outdated, I still enjoy the movie every time it’s Christmas month, I tend to watch Home Alone as a tradition during the month of December. If I were you, I recommend this movie by gathering your family members together as something to do with your kids, nieces, nephews, or grandkids. By the way, Home Alone 3 is considered non-canon in my point of view or as most Star Wars characters say, “From a certain point of view.”
Nickthemoviecritic.com 