But Not Without Company!
I’m sure at one point in all our adolescent lives, we’ve wished that our parents/family would just disappear. Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) did anyway, except that his wish actually came true! Or at least it did in the form of a terrible mistake when in the family’s mad rush to the airport Kevin is left sleeping in the 3rd floor bedroom. Kevin wakes up and discovers that he now rules the roost, a feeling only fully completed when he orders his own cheese pizza. But the euphoric feeling doesn’t last, especially when Kevin discovers that two bone-headed burglars have pinned HIS house as their next target. Defending himself, his house, and making his family return will amount to a day’s work for this little child protégé!
3 ¼ out of 4 stars. I grew up watching this fun family film and so it holds a special place in my heart! I don’t know what Macaulay Culkin is up to now but as a child he was like my little stepbrother that I’d only see every Christmas, plus his acting in this (and the 2nd Home Alone installment) is really quite phenomenal! Joe Pesci is good too but the real comic relief comes from his trusty sidekick Daniel Stern. The one reason that I didn’t give Home Alone a full 4 star rating is simply based on the fact that my motherly instincts kick in every time I watch the film and I feel like I’ve left my own child home…alone. So ¾ of the movie is watched in anxiety and stress. Also at the end when Kevin is laying the booby traps my heart hurts every time a part of the house is trashed, I mean don’t they know it’s my dream house??
Motherly Advice: I watched this film with medium filters. This really is a film for most ages because even the violent parts of the movie are done tongue-in-cheek. But just an fyi, you’ll see a hot iron smash on a face, a hand burnt, a foot stepping on a nail, bare feet stepping on glass ornaments, the two burglars falling from 20 feet in the air and the list goes on. So even though it’s done to be funny, you still see burnt skin and some blood. The only slightly nude part is on Buzz’s wall where you see a quick glimpse of a scantily dressed/posed woman, also the same scene shows Kevin looking through Buzz’s playboy, you see the title but no nude women. Next, you see Santa smoking and some drinking of champagne on the plane ride to Paris. Lastly, there are some pretty intense parts, the furnace in the basement comes “alive” and talks to Kevin, Buzz tells Kevin that their neighbor cut his family into pieces and turned them all to salt which he sprinkles on his driveway. Kevin uses the voice of a movie to scare away the intruders, and it includes a lot of loud gunshots. And of course the majority of the movie is about burglars trying to get into the McCallister home with or without Kevin being present. So because of this last category of intensity I’d recommend Home Alone for ages 12+.
Trisha~ Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night (where you wake up and your family is still there).
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