Home Alone
Brief Description:
8-year-old Kevin McCallister defends his suburban Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leaves him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris.
(from Wikipedia)
Date: 1990
Genre: American Christmas comedy
Running time: 1 hour 14 minutes
Cast:
Macaulay Culkin (Kevin)
Joe Pesci (Harry)
Daniel Stern (Marv)
Roberts Blossom (Marley)
John Heard (Peter)
Catherine O’Hara (Kate)
Devin Ratray (Buzz)
Hillary Wolf (Megan)
Angela Goethals (Linnie)
Michael C. Maronna (Jeff)
Gerry Bamman (Uncle Frank)
Terrie Snell (Aunt Leslie)
Jedidiah Cohen (Rod)
Daiana Campeanu (Sondra)
Senta Moses (Tracy)
Kieran Culkin (Fuller)
Anna Slotky (Brooke)
John Candy (Gus Polinski)
Larry Hankin (Officer Balzak)
Jeffrey Wiseman (Mitch)
Ray Toler (Uncle Rob)
Virginia Smith (Aunt Georgette)
Matt Doherty (Steffan)
Kristin Minter (Heather)
Ralph Foody (Gangster #1, Johnny)
Michael Guido as Gangster #2, Snakes)
Billie Bird (Woman in Airport, Irene)
Bill Erwin (Man in Airport, Ed)
Gerry Becker (Officer #1)
Alan Wilder (Scranton Ticket Agent)
Hope Davis (French Ticket Agent)
Kenneth Hudson Campbell (Santa)
Jim Ortlieb (Herb the drugstore clerk)
Director: Chris Columbus
Production company: Hughes Entertainment
Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5
First off, I LOVE the homey Christmas aesthetic!!! The lights, the snow, the decorations, the families coming home for Christmas Eve... I LOVE ALL OF IT. It’s amazing.
Also, although I am not a fan of how mean they are to each other, the big family dynamic of rush and getting in each others’ way as we try to get stuff done, is pretty accurate... ;P
Characters: 3/5
I just mentioned how I am not a fan of how mean they are. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the characters of the film. Kevin’s mother is decent (though she was unfair about the punishment) and his father is decent (though he has his not-so-shining moments too). Kevin himself is a cute kid, even if he’s a bit of a schemer, and has his not-great points (I hate how he talks back to his parents). But after all, the kid is 8 and his family doesn’t treat him very well. Hate Uncle Frank, and why doesn’t Aunt Leslie stand up to him? As for the kids, they’re basically all brats with poisonous tongues. AND I HATE BUZZ. What a horrid, horrid elder brother. And of course Marv & Harry deserve everything they get... I liked Old Marley though.
Plot: 4/5
Personally, I think the whole forgotten-at-home side of the plot is very realistic. Specially since they counted in the neighbour kid as Kevin initially. I enjoy the way the plot layers Kevin’s adventures and those of his family/mother as they (try to) come home. The part of Kevin being an adult are oddly inspiring. And the comedy side of the story is great... I enjoy seeing what Kevin has planned next through the whole climax! Finally, the ending is pretty awesome. :D
Theme/Message/Topics: 4/5
I ADORE the church scene. “This is the place to be if you’re feeling bad about yourself.” I would have liked that to be more fleshed out but being it’s a secular film, I was just pleased and surprised that scene was there at all! I also really love the message about courage... The message about family could be a bit stronger but it’s okay.
Kevin: How do you know?
Marley: I don’t know. I’m just afraid he won’t.
Kevin: No offense, but aren’t you too old to be afraid?
Content: 1/5 (high)
Some drinking + smoking, lying & stealing. Several uses of language: h**l, d**n, d**il, s***, c*ap, a**, probably more. Mostly happens during the climax with the robbers. Kevin flips through a Playboy & mentions no one is wearing any clothes. Buzz mentions nude beaches and girls armpit shaving. There are 1 or more pictures of a bikini-clad model in Buzz’s room. Mentions of Fuller wetting the bed; 2 brief scenes where Kevin is shirtless with a towel wrapped around his middle.
Violence: 3/5 (medium)
Lots of slapstick violence—burning, hitting, getting a nail through your foot, etc. There’s no blood but there is burn scars. It didn’t bother me the second time I watched the film but the first time it did. Threats of violence against Kevin by Marv & Harry (“gonna kill him,” “gonna bite all his fingers off,” etc). Old Man Marley is rumoured to have murdered his family and kept their bodies in his garbage cans, where they’ve mummified (false); he also has a bloody hand wrapped up.
Overall: 2/5
I love the Christmas theme. And the film is really funny. But I hate the family, and most of all the content is definitely not family-friendly as I was lead to believe it would be.
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