Home Alone [PG]

8 year-old Kevin McCallister is often treated as the helpless jerk of the family and as his large family frantically prepares to leave for France for the Christmas holidays, the amount of bullying he receives causes him to snap and wish that his family would just disappear. The following day, Kevin’s family hastily make off for France…accidentally leaving Kevin behind. Now Kevin is the man of the house, which starts out as a lot of fun until a pair of bumbling bandits try to break in. Kevin must now get over all his fears if he’s going to defend his home as well as himself. 

You know, I’d never seen this movie until today. As a child I sort of started with the third and then went back to the second and then stopped. Hmm, not the best way of doing things really. Chris Columbus’ holiday film of growing up and slapstick humour is a family comedy classic…without the family. I might be too old now to really love it, but it’s not without its charms. 

8 year-old Kevin McCallister is often treated as the helpless jerk of the family and as his large family frantically prepares to leave for France for the Christmas holidays, the amount of bullying he receives causes him to snap and wish that his family would just disappear. The following day, Kevin’s family hastily make off for France…accidentally leaving Kevin behind. Now Kevin is the man of the house, which starts out as a lot of fun until a pair of bumbling bandits try to break in. Kevin must now get over all his fears if he’s going to defend his home as well as himself. 

Special applause has to go to Macaulay Culkin who stars as Kevin our hero. 8 years old and delivering a most memorable and surprisingly grown up performance, Macaulay was very funny and very cute as the film’s protagonist. 

As far as family movies go, this one is really a classic; easily up there with The Goonies or E.T. Chris Columbus’ admiration of kids and their oftentimes hidden strength and maturity is taken to new heights in this film with the hero not only comically fighting off burglars, but also going on a somewhat smaller journey of self discovery: discovering his own strength and bravery to be exact.  Although it’s mainly kid-oriented, Home Alone does send out some lovely messages about the bonds of familial love, growth, and kids’ eagerness to rise to a challenge. When you think about it, there’s really more to it than just a funny holiday movie. 

Starring Macaulay Culkin, Catherine O’Hara, John Heard, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, and John Candy, Home Alone is a light and fun holiday movie filled with action, love, drama, growth, and plenty of comedy. I would have loved it more if I’d seen it as a child, but anyway it’s still an entertaining film.