Home Alone (1990)

Review:

John Hughes used to work for an advertising agency. I can’t tell you what his exact job was, but I imagine it had to do with selling products in creative ways – such is my understanding of the advertising industry. Watching “Home Alone” again reminded me that John Hughes was an Ad man. Why, you ask? Because “Home Alone” is perhaps the most perfect film ever made in regards to advertising. Not only does it have a cute kid at its helm (Makauly Culkin), it also preaches to the lowest common denominator of humor – slapstick. And then in the end, the film, gosh darn it all, has a heart. A goddamn heart.

It’s pretty easy to sell a product that has a cute kid in it with bad guys falling down while family values are maintained during Christmas. No wonder it was one of the top grossing films of all time.

And you know what? I really like this film. I think it works. Written by John Hughes and directed by Christ Columbus, “Home Alone” is a vehicle for Macaulay Culkin who possesses that rare quality in a child actor – charisma. He looks into the camera and winks, but somehow he doesn’t quite break that fourth wall. He lets us know he’s in on the joke but doesn’t sacrifice the momentum of the story. And he’s such a kid too.

Everyone knows the story by this point. Young Kevin McCallister is accidentally left home alone by his family who are on their way to spend Christmas in Paris. At times celebrating and at times distraught, Kevin proceeds to do the things we all might have done if left alone as a child – eat ice cream for lunch, watch scary movies, jump on your parent’s bed etc.

Then two burglars try to break into the McCallister home and rob it. But they are thwarted by devious, at times malicious, home-made traps set up by Kevin. The traps are what everyone really remembers about this film. They come out of left field. Most of “Home Alone” has a believable, non-violent sense of humor about it. And then suddenly Joe Pesci is having his head burned off. This sudden change of pace has drawn some criticism over the years, but I think it works. “Home Alone” is at heart bildungsroman - a story of a young boy coming of age. He thwarts the criminals and rises to the challenge of growing up and along the way he realizes that family does in fact matter. This film is like "Catcher in the Rye" for kids. Not really. But maybe...

Rating:

On a scale of one to Casablanca, I give it an "Igby Goes Down."

Rationalization:

While not a dark film per se, "Home Alone" captures some ominous undertones about the family - how easily it can disintegrate and how hard we all must work to keep them together. What I like about this movie is that I essentially believe it. The McCallisters sound like a real family and how they forget Kevin is not all that unbelievable. Its a comedy that could have spun out of control (like all of its sequels) but it develops and sticks to its themes and sells them to us.

The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009)

Review:

There have been a few desperate moments in my life when I considered joining the army. Mostly they were in the throes of youthful unemployment limbo and I would later discredit them as absurd escapist fantasies that would likely have rendered me either severely unhappy or dead. Thankfully I have never been given to great impulsion or lunacy, and so I have not found out why I would not like the army.

And yet then there are movies like “The Men Who Stare at Goats” and its (superior) forerunners like “MASH” (1970) and “Stripes” (1982) that construe the army not as an institution for corroding individuality, but a place where societal outcasts and misfits can thrive and through their individuation they thwart the enemy. These are not war movies, they are army comedies. War movies never make me want to go to war but army comedies always make me want to be in an army comedy.

Alas, the army is not a comedy…and maybe that’s why army comedies are so fun. “Men Who Stare at Goats” tells the truer-than-you-would-think story of a secret segment of the army that specializes in developing psychic and paranormal abilities. The film chronicles two parallel and converging stories that both have George Clooney at their center. Clooney plays Lyn Cassady, a special ops soldier with purportedly great psychic prowess. In the first story, he is accompanied by a young reporter (Ewan McGregor) through the deserts of Iraq for a secret mission. There’s some fun stuff in there – mainly the shenanigans of George Clooney - but this story generally left me wanting to watch ‘Three Kings’ again.

The second story is far more engaging. Set in the 1980s an American General convinced that the Russians are developing a psychic army gets funding for a United States Psychic task force. Heading up the unit is Bill (Jeff Bridges), an unorthodox leader if the army ever had one. Bill becomes young Lyn Cassady’s mentor and fosters the young man’s psychic talents. This story chronicles the rise and eventual downfall of the United States Army’s Psychics and you just can’t help but be amused by their audacity – and by how much you actually believe it.

Rating:

On a scale of one to Casablanca, this film scores a “The Jerk.” (1979)

Rationalization:

This would be a masterpiece if watched on an airplane. Seen in a movie theater, it registers as a good film with some funny scenes and intriguing ideas, but you just want it to dig a little deeper. Go more for broke. Thoughtful films are best when they’ve gone broke. I would have dropped the Ewan McGregor character and focused more on the 1980s.