Terrific comedy

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2001)

"Home Alone" went on the become a box office sensation when first released in late 1990. It stayed at the top of the box office as the #1 film for its first 12 weeks of release. Quite impressive. Kids of all ages just loved this movie about a little 8-year-old boy who gets accidentally left home all by himself after his family rushes off to spend Christmas in France. Macaulay Culkin is terrific as Kevin, the boy left home alone. He pretty much is the whole show here. His charisma and presence help make "Home Alone" as good as it is. However, this movie is not a classic. If it wasn't for the ridiculously crazy climax this movie would have been better. Of course the climax is the part that made everybody laugh out loud, when the kid takes on those inept burglars by setting up booby traps that are just too far-fetched to be believable. This part still makes me laugh, but I just can't believe that an 8-year-old could dream up of stuff like that. And writer-producer John Hughes would inject this style of slapstick humor into alot of his following movies (including "Baby's Day Out", "Curly Sue", and of course the two "Home Alone" sequels). The slapstick violence is at times a bit too much, but it doesn't go too far (though the first sequel "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" did get more violent in its slapstick comedy). Director Chris Columbus had his first smash hit with "Home Alone". He followed this with "Home Alone 2", "Mrs. Doubtfire", and most recently "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Columbus knows that he can work beautifully with kids, and "Home Alone" is where he got his start. He makes Culkin look as good as he is. The supporting cast is fine (Catherine O'Hara and John Heard are good as Culkin's parents; Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are wonderfully bumbling as the clumsy burglars), and Hughes script has some wonderfully heartfelt touches. "Home Alone" may not be the best comedy movie ever made, but it's still a good one. I'll take "Home Alone" over Hughes idiotic "Baby's Day Out" anytime.
*** (out of four)