Home Alone

John Hughes was already a successful comedy filmmaker before this movie but "Home Alone" gave him immortality. Making a great family film is one thing but a Christmas classic can live for generations and it looks to be that way for the legacy of this film. There is a lot of heart and humor to be had and the design of the film is very appealing and relatable. Its themes are also important. This show was a lot of fun as a kid and it still is after almost thirty years.

The film's central idea is very strong story-wise: a kid has his house all to himself with no parents and older siblings for a few days. The character of Kevin must be pitied in order for the audience to have joy in his freedom. Kevin already has a large family and he is the youngest but if that wasn't enough, his cousins and uncle also provide unhappiness at the start of the film. One thing I am indifferent to about "Home Alone" is the negative opening. I fully understand that the negativity exists to contrast the heartwarming ending but Kevin is a rotten child that needs to be taught a lesson. Kids however may think that it is okay to disobey and talk back to their parents. My parents, before watching this film, warned me about this and I am so grateful to them for that. John Hughes as a writer had to find a plausible way to have Kevin accidentally left behind. As mentioned, this is a huge family and another story purpose it serves is to allow Kevin to be overlooked. The fight that Kevin starts during dinner causes a plane ticket to be accidentally thrown away and Kevin is put up in the attic away from everyone else. The biggest factor though is the tree branch cutting the power and phone lines in the middle of the night. A stressful departure ensues but a noisy, neighbor kid becomes the final reason that Kevin becomes home alone. Sure this couldn't happen in real life but the writing and directing make the scenario feel plausible enough to be accepted by the audience. We all know what it feels like when everything goes wrong at once. Now that Kevin is left behind, Hughes had to keep him alone for an extended period of time in order to tell a feature length story. He therefore has the family go on vacation to Paris at Christmas time so that they can't get back to Chicago so easily. It was good this film was made when it was at a time before Facebook and smartphones. The movie has some great scenes such as with the use of the gangster film. I did not know that the gangster movie wasn't real until recently. It was made especially for "Home Alone" and that blows me away. That is a huge credit to director Chris Columbus because it feels like it was made decades ago thanks to how it is shown on the TV. I also love the running gag of the statue being knocked over. Another good element of the story is that Kevin doesn't just stay home but goes out into the neighborhood. This makes the show more interesting than if Kevin stayed inside the whole time.

Kevin is not alone in the neighborhood though. Hughes' childhood fear was buglers and so he takes revenge on them whole hog with "Home Alone". One thing that bugged me for years about the story was that Kevin was able to easily figure out that Harry and Marv are robbers. Having just stolen a toothbrush, Kevin would have more likely believed that they were undercover cops because he last saw Harry dressed as a police officer. We know that Kevin has learned the true identity of Harry and Marv because he takes measures to make his home appear filled with people. If he wanted to deter cops, he wouldn't be so extravagant. I should give Kevin a little credit though. Burglars did try to break into his house the night before and he heard their voices. He also saw their shadows and the next day, he saw their van in the driveway of the Murphy's house. Another companion that Kevin has while home alone is Old Man Marley. He shares the same name as a famous Christmas ghost by the way. I am grateful for his inclusion in the story courtesy of Columbus. Come to think of it, the whole block has something in common because the McAllisters have neighbors with last names like Marley and Murphy. The scene in the church has a lot of heart to it thanks to the choir singing. Marley turns out to be a sweet old man with a friendly voice and this was a great story twist for me as a kid. Marley however needs help in his life. Through him, Kevin and the kids in the audience learn the long time consequences of family strife. Kevin is in danger of making the same mistake that Marley and his son made. The sudden music cue leads up to the world famous climax of one of the most unusual Christmas Eves ever portrayed in live action film. There is some foreshadowing to some booby traps at the start of the film when the micro machines and glue gun are mentioned. The slapstick humor of this sequence is very entertaining because the various gags are orchestrated so well. It is hard to pick any favorites that happen to Marv because they are all funny. Harry on the other hand gets a lot of laughs from me when he burns his hand (a tribute to "Raiders of the Lost Ark") and has his head torched. When Kevin cuts the rope that the two are hanging from, the subsequent screams are harmonious and I love that. The next morning brings a white Christmas and Kevin's family returns. You would think that Kate would be upset by the fact that if she had just taken the Friday morning flight from Paris, she would have arrived home at the same time anyways. Instead, she is just happy to have the whole family there for Christmas. There is also resolution for Marley on this morning thanks once again to Columbus. To maintain the spirit of the whole movie right to the end, we have the final line in the movie as delivered by Buzz: "Kevin, what did you do to my room?!" The story themes in this show are very family oriented. Reconciliation and family love are spoken to both kids and parents. The film also speaks against the chaos of Christmas time. Christmas at home with the family is emphasized.

Because this movie came out when I was Kevin's age, this was my introduction to the all the actors we see on screen. Macaulay Culkin is a child actor to remember, one of the most successful also. After appearing in "Uncle Buck" the year before, it is obvious that he got the attention of John Hughes. He was the first actor that Chris Columbus met for the role and over 400 kids later, the director came to understand that Hughes' first choice for Kevin was the best. This film is the first time that Culkin says "I don't think so", which became a catch phrase for him of sorts. My favorite moment of his in this movie is his reaction to Buzz's girlfriend. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are like an evil Laurel and Hardy. As usual with a duo like this, the short one is the brains while the tall one is the sidekick. Two actors display great chemestry thankfully as was discovered in screen tests. The studio didn't want to pony up the money to hire Stern but after the first casting choice didn't play well off Pesci's improvisation, the studio relented to great dividends. I am happy that Harry and Marv were nominated to appear on the American Film Institute's list of the top movie villains. The filmmakers never thought that Pesci would say yes to being in the movie but once he did, no one else turned down working on the film. Pesci was in a total of four movies released in 1990 including this movie and "Goodfellas", for which he won an Oscar. I am guessing that his performance in "Goodfellas", released two months earlier, contributed to the persona of Harry in "Home Alone". The late John Heard and Canadian Catherine O'Hara portray typical parents. Devin Ratray as Buzz has some great moments. There is one line of his that I think is some of the best from John Hughes as a writer and Ratray delivers it with flying colors, "No, for three reasons. A: I'm not that lucky. Two: We have smoke detectors. And D: we live on the most boring street in the United States of America where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen. Period." As an adult, I hate Uncle Frank as a character much more than Buzz or any other. The guy is such a moocher as he won't help pay for the pizza, makes certain that the champagne on the plane is free and tries to steal the salt & pepper shakers. Finally, his concern over the crisis of the film is none. I did not know until writing this that Macaulay Culkin's younger brother plays Fuller. Roberts Blossom was wonderful as Marley. He can look scary but his vocal performance is very sweet in nature. Not only did Pesci improvise some moments to great effect but so did all of the filmmakers including Canadian John Candy. His role in "Home Alone" feels exactly like a cameo. He adds his own type of humor to this film and I miss him as an actor. This was also the first time I ever saw Larry Hankin, who plays the sergeant at the police station. This was also of course my introduction to Chris Columbus, John Hughes, Mark Radcliffe and editor Raja Gosnell. Columbus' first film, "Adventures in Babysitting", was a huge success and "Home Alone" proved that he wasn't a one-hit director. He did make a flop before "Home Alone" so he owes this movie a lot of gratitude. Because John Williams' musical scores are so well known, it is hard to figure out the first instance where I took notice of his name as a kid. I do know however that the "Home Alone" film series was one of the first scores of his that I could recognize outside the movie. It remains one of my favorites. When the original musical composer, Bruce Broughton, was too busy making "The Rescuers Down Under", the filmmakers approached Williams with no expectation he would say yes. As with Pesci though, Williams did agree. He liked what he saw during filming apparently. The film did receive yet another two Oscar nominations thanks to Williams but he lost to "Dances with Wolves" and "Dick Tracy". That former movie did have a great score but I feel that the musical score for "Home Alone" is more lasting in pop culture. All the musical themes in "Home Alone" are perfect in depicting the necessary moods required. The use of all the songs is also very well done such as Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". The later was Williams' idea when he suggested that Mel Torme should record a version of the song after hearing the temporary soundtrack. The design of the movie is noteworthy. Columbus employed a lot of warm colors, more specifically the reds, greens and whites we see at Christmas. This allows us to relate to what we are watching on screen. The airplane interiors and the basement of Murphy house were filmed in a high school. You really can't tell the difference between which shots were filmed on a sound stage and in the real house they used during production. Speaking of the house, it is now a tourist attraction and is valued at more than $2 million.

The film had to compete with "Rocky V" at the box office and therefore did not open on very many screens. This however is one way to acheive success when you have a good movie because the film kept selling out with people coming back to see it again and others trying to see it for the first time. This kind of attention in turn breeds more people coming to see the film in theaters. After two decades, "Home Alone" is still the highest grossing live action comedy in history (not adjusting for inflation) and it is evidence of the movie's popularity at the time. It made Macaulay Culkin a superstar and the filmmakers behind the scenes were able to maintain/commence their successful careers, even the stunt team. A film franchise grew out of this original film as well. As a Christmas film, I don't see when the impact of "Home Alone" will end. It was designed to be timeless and has achieved this goal perfectly. It has so many noteworthy qualities. I wonder how my future kids will react to it.

4.5 Stars out of 5