A true Christmas classic for any season.

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2018)

The strange slapstick turn that the silly third act takes is an odd choice which remarkably doesn't stunt the film's growth but is still an odd departure from the relatively down-to-earth proceedings that precede it. It's only because it acts as a natural extension to the expert character development already done, that it slots in so successfully to end 'Home Alone (1990)' on an uproarious if (strangely) slightly sadistic note which represents the hero's transformation from naÃ¯vely vulnerable to cunningly independent. The layered screenplay puts everything in its perfectly imperfect place during the impeccable set-up, allowing for the forgetting of a child to become wholly believable and entirely empathetic, and the wonderfully ostentatious performances place everything in a state of heightened reality ripe for rib-tickling laughter and heart-warming sentiment. A true Christmas classic for any season. 8/10