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.