HOME ALONE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

How many of us, as children, wished we could make our family disappear and have the whole house to ourselves? A lot of us, I'm sure, but what if two burglars turned up? I think less of us would want to be alone and that is the premise for Home Alone which is a comedy set during Christmas and features a young boy who is accidentally left behind and must defend his house from two burglars. 

It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris in France. But the youngest in the family named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents' bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.

Culkin was previously seen in John Hughes' 1989 comedy, Uncle Buck, alongside John Candy, who also makes an small but memorable appearance in this film. One of the scenes in Uncle Buck gave Hughes the idea to write this film. Culkin is the perfect choice as Kevin who, at first, is delighted to be rid of his whole family and have the big house all to himself, however we see that, deep down, he really misses his family. Both Pesci and Stern are great as the two burglars. Harry is serious and determined to rob the McCallister house and Marv is his sidekick and isn't at all that bright. Catherine O'Hara and John Heard portray Kevin's parents who are shocked to discover that they left Kevin behind and it's Kevin's mother who makes the decision to travel all the way home by herself even if it means hitching a ride from an annoying but kind-hearted Gus Polinski (Candy) who is the lead member of a traveling polka band. I liked that director Chris Columbus included the scenes with Kevin's mother as this shows children that, even after an argument, their parents still do care about them. 

The film is worth watching for the slapstick violence that features in Home Alone's final act. It's amusing to watch two idiotic burglars fall for an 8-year-old's various booby traps. They're so over the top and does make older viewers wonder how a young kid came up with the traps but this doesn't make them any less entertaining. Various traps include broken pieces of baubles on the floor, a burning-hot door knob, a falling clothes-iron and many more. 

Despite all the humour, there's a few heartwarming scenes that may bring a tear to the viewer's eye, including when Kevin talks to his neighbour, 'Old Man Marley' (Roberts Blossom), who he thought was scary because of the rumours Buzz spread about him but it turns out he's friendly and the two converse about their families whilst in a church watching the choir. We learn why Marley was perceived as a dark and scary character and feel sympathetic towards him. 

This was Columbus' first family feature film (his previous films, Adventures In Babysitting and Heartbreak Hotel, were aimed at older viewers) and it was a huge success, thanks to Culkin's iconic performance as the brave Kevin and the comic booby traps. It was the second best selling film of 1990 after making over $476million. Because of this, a sequel was released two years later with the subtitle Lost In New York. 

This is a film that is definitely a must watch during the holiday season and something that the whole family will enjoy. 

7/10