at first glance , it appears that the home alone movies are brainless slapstick intended for those with minds of 8-year olds .
that 's true of home alone
2
and i 'd bet money that it 's true of home alone
3 ( opening soon ) .
but home alone
actually has a lot going for it , and the cartoon slapstick does n't get in the way .
the mcalisters , all 15 of them , are going to france for the holidays .
four adults and eleven kids are spending the night together before heading to the airport en masse .
the littlest kid , kevin , is the victim of the older kids ' cruelty .
kevin 's patience runs out when he learns that his plain - cheese pizza has already been eaten , and he 's going to have to starve .
he attacks his big bully brother buzz , who had been teasing him .
the fight disrupts the already - chaotic dinner , spilling milk and soft drinks all over the table , a few cousins , and an uncle .
the knee - jerk reaction is for everyone to blame kevin .
nobody came to his rescue when he was being teased , but they all point their fingers when he fights back .
the ultimate punishment comes from mom ( catherine o'hara ) who sends him up to the spare bedroom in the attic for the night .
on his way up the stairs , he tells her that " families suck " and that he hopes never to see any of his family again .
that night the power goes out , knocking out the alarm clocks , so the mcalisters wake up in a big hurry to get to the airport .
in a surprisingly plausible setup , kevin is mistakenly accounted for , and the family heads off without him .
it 's interesting that , in a subtle way , his parents never noticed him missing because of their deliberate desire to separate themselves from their children .
first they delegate the headcount to an older sibling , and second , they put all the kids in coach while they fly first class .
they 're two - thirds of the way across the atlantic before they realize they are missing a child .
meanwhile , kevin believes that somehow his wish has come true .
he 's finally rid of his family !
life is a dream come true .
he can jump on the beds , watch r - rated movies , eat gobs of ice cream and potato chips , and dig through his big brother 's secret box .
slowly , the novelty wears off and he settles into the mundane .
he grooms himself , he does the laundry , he goes shopping ( " i bought some milk , eggs , and fabric softener " ) .
he also starts to miss his family , not just for their company , but for the security they bring .
the furnace in the basement is a scary monster , the old man next door is a snow - shovel murderer , and two crooks are trying to break into his house .
macaulay culkin is cute but he is n't much of an actor .
still , we can see that kevin 's character grows , thanks to some good direction and editing
.
for example , acting has little to do with the emotional impact of the scene where kevin searches out a seasonal santa at night , just as " santa " is getting in his car .
kevin asks the man to pass on his request - he wants his family back - to the real santa .
he learned how to deal with the furnace .
you turn on the lights and it 's not so scary anymore .
he goes to a church one evening
and there he sees the snow - shovel murderer , who actually turns out to be a nice man .
they talk about their fears and kevin learns that age alone does not make you less afraid .
finally , in the last 20 minutes , kevin confronts his last fear - the bandits , head on ( literally ) .
this last act is full of violent comedic slapstick , and after the movie 's genuine dramatic setup , it is dessert .
it 's a lot of fun , and it does n't overwhelm the rest of the movie
.
on the whole , home alone is a great holiday movie .
john williams ' original score has the sound and feel of holiday music without the disadvantage of being overplayed at the malls , and the christmas setting can put you in the mood for those family gatherings .
but it does have its flaws .
the smallest problem is that culkin does n't act very well .
as i said before , he is cute , but repeated viewings reveal more about how columbus covered himself than about culkin 's insight into his character .
the biggest problem is that during the cartoony coda , the villains threaten kevin 's life about five times .
instead of " i 'm gon na get that kid
" they say " i 'm gon na kill that kid .
"
some might argue that the tone is the same , but i strongly disagree .
mixing comedy with specific and viable threats of murder is a sociopathic faux - pas .
i 'll probably never see home alone 3 , and i wish i had skipped home alone 2 , but i do enjoy home alone almost every year
.
do n't let your impressions of the others detract from the original , which has much more to offer than cartoon slapstick .
Output: P