Kevin's home run

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2018)

Over the years, this kind of became the comedic equivalent of eggnog, gingerbread and the Nutcracker. It's tedious during any other time of the year, but it works perfectly well come late December. This was the one and probably the last time that anyone fancied Macaulay Culkin as an actor, who developed from Michael Jackson's homebuddy to a thespian has-been with alcoholic issues and managed to emerge from it only a short while ago. However, it's a pleasure to watch him in his acting prime (however sad that may sound). Here he's the cute little Kevin who gets left behind at home when his family goes on a Christmas trip to Paris. Two burglars eventually notice that he's all alone in the big house and they decide to have a go at it. They're taken by surprise when they run straight into the trap of the sadistic kid who turns their effort into a hilarious near-death experience. The comedies nowadays don't really reach the quality level like this one. It doesn't insult my inteligence and the message isn't ironic or too tacky, apart from the over-the-top Christmas decor that looks as if the Rockefeller Christmas tree exploded inside. The pranks Kevin pulls on them are plain silly and the huge family looks like an embodiment of a Norman Rockwell painting, exaggerated to borderline cult. This movie spawned numerous sequels but it's only the two with Culking that are really fun to watch. the plot is simple, the pranks are silly and the whole thing works just because the context of it is undemanding. Just like Culkin's one-character hit, this is a one-time movie and that's why it's likable and so enduring. That's unlikely to change any time soon.