Does It Deserve Its Popularity?

Rating: 4/10 (11 August 2006)

Everybody tries hard, but "Home Alone" doesn't work nearly as well as its popularity suggests. Macaulay Culkin became a household name starring as Kevin McCallister, a precocious eight-year-old accidentally left behind when his family heads out on a holiday vacation. If fending for himself weren't enough, Kevin must also contend with two bumbling burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), who have targeted the family home.
I first saw "Home Alone" when I was 10 years old. I didn't find it at all funny then, and its genius still eludes me. The alleged "humor" that everyone seems to love stems mainly from a series of violent booby traps Kevin sets up to stop the bad guys. Among the deterrents the burglars so wittingly fall for is a red-hot doorknob. Looks painful, but hardly funny. The film tries to handle such physical abuse like an old Road Runner cartoon, but when the action involves real people instead of an animated coyote, something is lost.
Yet "Home Alone" isn't a total disaster. The performances are great and the story is at times quite charming, particularly the subplot involving the supposedly scary old neighborhood man. Interestingly, the sequel -- "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" -- marked a notable improvement.