An insult both for a child and adult viewer.

Rating: 4/10 (8 February 2004)

I had never seen this and got the opportunity recently when the child in my life begged to rent it as she had heard wonderful things about it.
I expected fluff, a simplistic plot and two hours of enduring the smarmy child actor Macauley Culkin. Not too bad a trade off so that the child would enjoy a movie she wanted to see.
Oh dear. Halfway through it I looked at her and said what would you rate this one out of 10? 5, was the response. We are expected to believe that an 8 year old who cannot tie his own shoelaces comes up with incredible booby traps for some burglars who want to rob the house (rigging lines between trees, heating up door knobs to name very few out of many). One with a master's in engineering would not be able to figure out most of them.
But the very worst features were these dim-bulb parents who sit in first class while their children go unsupervised in economy on a flight to Paris (9 hours, people!)who cannot fire up a brain cell between them in Paris to get the police, Children's Aid, emergency services (they never have friends and relatives in Hollywoodland)to go to the house and get the child.
How hard is it to count your children when you have only three??? The child has not been streetproofed and does not know to call 911 either. And on and on.
It is one of the most appalling movies I have ever seen. At the end the child and I agreed, 4 out of 10.
The old man (Roberts Blossom) was sweet and Catherine O'Hara, whom I normally admire, is right up there with horror moms of all time.