Home Alone

I watched a movie called Home Alone, directed by John Hughes, released in 1990. It stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard and Catherine O'Hara. It is a story about the McCallister family that flies to Paris for Christmas vacation but leaves behind one of their kids, Kevin, and he stays home alone. While doing so, he has to fight off two terrible burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. It is a pretty funny movie, so many kids came up watching this as part of their lives but I was in that in between time so it really didn’t resonate with me. Other than the fact that I spent quite a bit of time alone when I was a kid because both my parents worked. Like many John Hughes movies, it had comedic elements but also some pretty dramatic elements as well. Kevin kind of gets lost in the family and spat upon so when he wishes that they were gone and gets his wish, he enjoys it for the most part until it becomes more and more time; especially when he is annoyed by the burglars, though to be fair, they are the best burglars. Kevin sets cartoonish traps for them that could actually do some real damage to a person but comes off harmless in this movie. It can be quite terrifying that they would want to kill Kevin as well but he is smart enough to stay alive. It is an interesting movie because it examines what it would be like to have Christmas alone. For some people, that is not a luxury. Even alone, it can be stressful and somewhat depressing. His parents, played by Catherine O’Hara and John Heard are genuinely shaken when they realize that Kevin is not with them and try everything to get back to him so he isnt alone. That is interesting because it also shows you how distracted one can get trying to have a Christmas in the first place. Initially, his parents kind of ignore or are seemingly mean to Kevin so it is fascinating seeing this true spirit coming out in them.
Overall, it was a good movie but I feel like it doesn’t hold up for me personally. I think Macaulay Culkin is pretty cool and this is a pretty cool legacy movie for him to be remembered for (and the multiple sequels that followed not so much) and its pretty funny for the family but there are so many others that I prefer that I have reviewed so far.