Home Alone

B

The instant success of the first 2 Home Alone movies created a genre that was temporarily successful in the early 90s. Temporary because as the decade came to a close, Home Alone 4 was made direct to video. The success of Home Alone 1 and Home Alone 2 are not really surprising, since they are both watchable fares. This review is written for a genre that's come to a close and for the childhood memories.

Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is an 8-year-old boy. He's small. He gets bullied by his big brother. He wants attention. But 2 days before Christmas, when his family and extended relatives come over for a group (to say the least) trip to France, he's not getting as much attention as he deserves. He wishes that he has his own home, all for himself. The next morning, he wakes up with the house empty. His family had left without him, leaving him home alone. He starts to enjoy his new-found liberty with glee. However, 2 small time burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) are on the loose this Christmas. It's up to Kevin to defend his newly acquired fortress.

Home Alone is divided into 2 parts. Initially, we see how Kevin adapts and finally learns to have fun by himself. It strikes a chord in all of us to see how young Kevin comes to enjoy and finally regrets his zeal for freedom. Having seen so many crooks get their crotch shot at, kicked on, or (the funniest one so far, in Baby's Day Out) catching fire, I get tired of watching Harry and Marv getting their asses kicked by somethings attached to strings that are attached to doors (if you (still) like these things, the 2nd half offers plenty of that), I enjoy the first half of Home Alone infinitely better than the 2nd. Besides, it shows why a child actor like Macaulay Culkin doesn't come very often. This is the first time I realize why he was as popular as he was.

Culkin was perfect for Kevin. People have been saying how Tom Hanks achieved the nearly impossible in Cast Away, on screen for 45 minutes by himself. Culkin was only 9 years old, and though he didn't exactly share an uninterrupted screen time with a volley ball, he still deserves credit. Culkin is (was) both cute and luminous as Kevin. He is responsible for half the laughs in Home Alone. The other half would undoubtedly belong to the tragic crooks Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. You can only watch a couple of guys get bonked in the head and groin a few times - but not Harry and Marv. You can see them doing that all day.

My earliest memory of watching a movie has got to be either Home Alone 2 or Alladin. I recall the latter because that's the first movie that I asked my dad to watch; the former because I laughed so damn hard. I guess in terms of originality, Home Alone beats Home Alone 2 by a mile - since the 2nd is basically the same movie set in New York. But more than that, Home Alone gives a more heartwarming and honest meaning to Christmas and more significantly, that longing to be independent, followed by regret for losing what you had. That's what, I think, lets Home Alone stand out.
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