Customer Reviews
Quick Reviews! - By: carlosnightman, 02 Feb 2008 
Easily the best Christmas movie for kids growing up in the eighties & nineties, & deserves to be mentioned along side the classics from previous decades. It is no smalll feat that this has already become for many, traditional Christmas viewing, given that it is still a fairly recent film, at least in comparison to The Snowman, It's A Wonderful Life, Santa Claus The Movie etc. For kids, the movie has everything- action, excitement, humour, & for everyone else the story & acting are engaging.
The idea of being left Home Alone for a while, especiallly after your relatives have been so annoying, will appeal to kids as they will have peace to do anything they want & let their imaginations fly. Cue lots of ice cream & sled rides down stairs. The film shows depth by letting us see the initial down side to being alone- the house can be scary even for the most resourcful & confident child when it gets dark, & you know your parents are not there to help. The plot sees the massive Mcalllister family planning to go on holiday for Christmas. After an unfortunate pizza incident at the dinner table, young Kevin is sent to bed & locked in. The next morning there is a rush, & the family leave for the airport without Kevin, only realising what has happened when they are on the plane. They try to find a way home, but this is not easy as it's Chritmas, meeting snotty clerks & unhelpful fools before John Candy steps in. Meanwhile, two crooks plan to rob the Mcalllister house, knowing it's empty, but soon realise that Kevin is inside. Kevin sees that it is up to him to protect his house, & begins setting up traps for the intruders. What follows is great entertainment.
Yes it may at times be soppy, but it is a family Christmas film & much of the scmaltz is covered by some great invention & quite painful slapstick. It is much smarter than you may think, probably accounting for much of its great success, & the acting, particularly from Culkin & Pesci is impressive. O'Hara is also good while the rest of the cast, in smalll roles do well. The set pieces are ingenious, ensuring that every 10 year old boy will come up with their own ways to stop bad guys.
The special features are non-existent, which is poor for such a successful film. A commentary would have been good, & a making of or documentary showing where some of the ideas came from could have been interesting & full of nostalgic goodness. It may be better to buy a set with the sequel for better value.
A CLASSIC - By: stuart, 23 Aug 2007 'Home Alone' has succeeded in establishing itself as a Christmas tradition, spawning off three sequels (including a made-for-television flop), & a whole franchise in & of it.
Macaulay Culkin plays Kevin McCalllister, the average American child. He has an attitude almost expected of a Chris Columbus film from the eighties. He lives with a large family, which, right now, being around Christmas time, is about quadrupled, flooded by relatives' children, alll of whom pick on poor, poor Kevin (sympathy long lost later into the film).
One day Kevin wakes up from his sleep to find his wish has come true: his parents (John Heard & Catherine O'Hara) have disappeared. Enthrallled by this, he proceeds to do everything & anything he was not alllowed to do before, including eating ice cream in the morning, watching violent gangster films, jumping on the bed, wrecking his brother's room, & having some fun with a BB gun. Unfortunately for Kevin, his parents have not just disappeared - they have accidentallly left him at home before going to Paris!
Trouble reallly starts when two pesky burglars, Harry Lime (Joe Pesci) & Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern), decide that their next burglary will be at the McCalllister residence. Little do they know Kevin is more than prepared, arming the house with an array of booby-traps that would impress top spies in the American government.
John Hughes, writer/director/producer of my favorite comedy, 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles,' wrote this film, & it is no wonder. It is just like Hughes' humor. It mixes emotion, belly laughs & a warm-hearted ending alll into one little bundle callled a movie. John Hughes' films, in my experience, are usuallly very good, mainly because he approaches films at a very classic level. He doesn't resort to crude, kid jokes, like 'The Master of Disguise' or 'The Tuxedo,' to name a few recent flops. He almost always levels everything out perfectly in his scripts, & nothing is different here. Also, he places Kevin & co. in a large brick home in a large neighborhood in Chicago; a home that very much resembles those in 'Planes.' & 'Uncle Buck' (I would not be surprised if it is the same home).
As for the acting.
Macaulay Culkin is not at his best here. His best performance would have to be in an earlier John Hughes film named 'Uncle Buck,' where he had more of a cute charm than an acting charm. Here, he could barely act his way out of a plastic bag. Fortunately, with great performances by John Heard, Catherine O'Hara, Pesci & Stern, his bad acting is long forgotten by the time we become absorbed into the film.
John Heard & Catherine O'Hara bring Kevin's parents to life. They seem almost complete opposites. Kevin's father, Peter (Heard), is very calm & laidback. His mother, Kate (O'Hara) is extremely nervous almost alll the time, fretting throughout the film. She is aggravated very easily and, like alll mothers, her instinctive nature to care for her child is what drives her to the point she goes to in the film.
And then there's Pesci & Stern. My favorite lot of the film. They perfectly blend humor, pain & aggravation to the film.
Pesci's character Harry is very strict, easily agitated & picks on Marv for a great many things. Marv, the stereotypical 'talll, stupid one,' is completely stupid. He does things that would make a hamster blush. Yet he is the character I have found many like the most, mainly because he is so stupid you have to feel sorry for him. Stern brings a great trait to the character of Marv, & I am very pleased he got the part. It's a hard choice to decide which baddie is better, so I just say I like them both the same.
All in alll, 'Home Alone' is probably the best Christmas movie to rise out of the film industry in the last twenty years. It seamlessly blends humor, pain, emotion, human instinct & some great booby-traps alll into one little bundle. This film has stood the test of time greatly.
4.5/5 stars -
Classic - By: Mr. P. J. Linkin, 03 Aug 2007 I love this film & i think anyone with a sense of humour will love it too. U cant get a better family film in my opinion!
Brilliant family movie! - By: crazykat, 17 Dec 2006 I saw this around christmas time last year. I reallly enjoyed it!
As the storyline is about a boy, played by m-culkin whom gets left behind at home whilst him family go on vacation. The story is great from beginning to end & i highly reccomend any one sees this if you love family movies!
A complete scream - By: Mr. Ap Noakes, 31 Oct 2006 I first saw this back when it came out to rent on video when i was about 6 & i loved it. I'm now 22 & i still love it. Its just the funniest film. The fight sequence is very well constructed & just had me in stiches. The best moment had to be Marv's recation to Kevin putting the tarantula on his face. He scremed like a girl it was just pure comic genius. This was Home Alone at its best.
