Home Alone-Let’s Just Hope Culkin Doesn’t Show Up to Home Alone 5 Stoned!
Remember the good old days when Macaulay Culkin wasn’t hooked on drugs and Michael Jackson wasn’t on the run in strange far away lands? Yeah, that was great. I remember watching Home Alone and thinking, “wow, this kid is going to be in everything.” If you were thinking the same thing you too were correct, if by “everything” you meant every rehab clinic in North America. Ah, what great times.
You probably already know the incredibly simple plot of Home Alone–kid gets left behind during his family’s holiday trip and has a great time until some bumbling burglars try to get into the house. It is good old-fashion Three Stooges style escapist stupidity, but in 1990 it worked pretty well as a kid’s film.
My real thoughts in this review are not the nuts and bolts of the film but why the film was a success and exactly how successful it was. The film worked because it was cute, nice, and appealed to children, now that may sound simple and straight forward but its not as simple as it seems. However, what should not be overlooked is that much of the success of the film sits at the feet of Culkin. Culkin has long since turned into much of what is wrong with Hollywood but at the time he was nearly something of a living incarnation of Bart Simpson and people liked him. Note the previous sentence, people liked him. Most of the time, and I don’t think most Hollywood MBA’s and lawyers realize this, people tolerate the child actors, often the sons and daughters of established stars and casting agents, but they don’t really like them. Why? Most of the time they are monsters and they can’t hide it. This is what makes Culkin special in Home Alone as he is likeable and without him the amazing box office success of the film is dramatically reduced.
The film cost a mere $10-$15 million dollars, but in 2005 “Hollywood Dollars” would probably cost at least $45 million if not more. That’s just how the business has “evolved.” Yet, that $10-$15 million dollar investment brought in an astonishing $500 plus million. Now that is a return. Truth, be told all involved were completely and totally shocked. But the film worked for a simple reason, it appealed to prehistoric desire of children to beat the crap out of adults. The formula was simple, kids love seeing adults get thumped on by kids and Culkin was likeable. The script wasn’t very good, the acting overall was just average and the production values were just okay. No, it was the Home Alone Formula that made this work and for that much credit must be given to director Chris Columbus and writer John Hughes. Maybe it was intentional and maybe it was an accident, either way I am sure they both wish they could replicate the magic.
If you have a problem with comedic violence then keep you youngsters away from this one, otherwise it is probably a good time for kids and if your really concerned with their exposure to violence on television, you probably don’t want them watching the news which is infinitely more frightening than anything in Home Alone.
Story C
Acting B (Culkin is great in Home Alone and it is a bit of a tragedy that he was spun around the Hollywood drug addict, spoiled rich a-hole scene, but who knows maybe he’ll pull a Robert Downey Jr and get a million chances and a million more chances after that. Someday we may see Culkin truly return–just hopefully not in another Home Alone movie.)
Visuals C
Originality/Innovation C-
Enjoyability Grade B/A (A grade of B for adults and A for the youngsters.)
Home Theater/HD Factor C
Overall Grade B/A (A grade of B for adults and A for the youngsters.)
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