Possibly the funniest film I've ever seen?

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2005)

What can I say about Home Alone that nobody has ever said? Possibly nothing.
Home Alone, to me, is possibly one of the funniest movies ever made. Yes it is full of sentimentality. Yes it is a good wholesome family movie. But it is as anarchic and destructive as any Predator or Clockwork Orange.
Any film that gives gives a ten year old unconditional licence to p i s s their pants for a full ninety minutes without repercussion from their parents should always hold a place in our hearts.
Macauley Culkin, no matter how much he may annoy us, is adamant of his willingness to be rid of the family unit. We all felt this when we were 11 years old and the fantasy of leaving our parents behind as we become ingratiated in our own behaviour upon the world is undeniable.
I may be reading too much into a film that is full of the most basic humour in our nature, but if anyone out there is my age, I'm sure they will feel the same way.
In Kevin MacCallister all our childish dreams come true. It's fantasy on the most base level. He takes care of himself, he thwarts the bad guy and he still does it with enough acumen to realise that growing up can' be done on our own. For example Kevin realises that preconceptions can be misjudged when old man Marley comes to his aid just as we're sure that he is also one of the bad guys.
These are exactly the same choices we had to deal with when we were the same age, even if we didn't have to make them with quite the same repercussions.
But all in all, no matter how much you want to read into this film, it will always be a movie when the little man wins. And we always need that in our lives, no matter how old we are.