Maman, j'ai raté l'avion !

I'm a young adult, and not a huge fan of the kids movies these days. Some people would classify this as a kids movie, but I think it's more of a classic. I grew up seeing this on TV every winter, and it's still one of my favorites. The sequels are awful, as are most sequels...but the original Home Alone is fantastic. I STILL laugh when I watch it. It's really one of those "feel good" movies, the kind that make you want to cuddle up on the couch with family and relax and enjoy it.

If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on a great Christmas movie. Heck, it's even great for a rainy day. Watch it, you'll love it! I wish it were on more often!

Christmas favourite, every year! Good acting, storyline, funny and heart warming

In the Eighties, John Hughes churned out a handful of movies and scored many, many hits. Quite rightly, as most of them were seriously funny - I'm DEFINITELY not referring to Curly Sue, so relax! In one particular scene from Uncle Buck, Macaulay Culkin interrogates a babysitter through the letterbox to make sure she's not a baddie. This inspired Hughes to write a whole new movie. Who would have known that this and its sequel would go on to become two of the biggest hits of all time? Both Hughes and Chris Columbus seem to prefer setting their movies during the holiday season (Gremlins, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Christmas Vacation) and manage to pull them off without too much sentiment, or sickening amounts of gooey love.

There are two reasons why Home Alone was such a big success. The first is that it's about a kid who outsmarts grown-ups, something that happens every day, only there's a worldwide conspiracy of silence. This movie yells it out loud and clear. The second is John Williams's magical score, which elevates the movie way above slapstick family fare to something more serious and regarded. It was nominated for an Academy Award, along with the Christmas carol Somewhere In My Memory, but lost to John Barry's Dances with Wolves. Damn! In a mad rush to the airport one morning, the MacCallister family forget one little thing...Kevin (Culkin). He is an eight-year-old kid who wants nothing better than a peaceful Christmas and some time to himself. It's hard for him to get this when living in a house with seven other people(the exact same house from Planes, Trains And Automobiles, don't you know0. With the rest of the MacCallisters in Paris, Kevin runs wild doing whatever he wants, eating whatever he wants and watching whatever TV show he wants.

But there's one major problem. The Wet Bandits, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), are on the prowl and have knocked off every other house in Kevin's street. His is next. And seeing that he's man-of-the-house now, he HAS to defend it.

Using whatever tools are at his disposal (rusty nails, blow torches, Micro Machines) he sets up a labyrinth of booby traps, so that the Wets can't break in. Their idiot-proof determination proves to be their downfall, as they are tortured and torn-up upon entering Kevin's domain.

Although this is not the only point of the film, there is an important message that family is what really matters to a child, or to anyone, and having them home for the holidays is better than wandering a huge house all by yourself.

There are some movies that work best at Christmas and this is one of them. I'm not saying that in a couple of decades it will be the new It's A Wonderful Life, but it will be remembered fondly at the very least.

Don't be a Scrooge. It's Christmastime. Go rush to check out Home Alone.

'Home Alone' has succeeded in establishing itself as a Christmas tradition, spawning off three sequels (including a made-for-television flop), and a whole franchise in and of it.

Macaulay Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, 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, all 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 and Catherine O'Hara) have disappeared. Enthralled by this, he proceeds to do everything and anything he was not allowed to do before, including eating ice cream in the morning, watching violent gangster films, jumping on the bed, wrecking his brother's room, and having some fun with a BB gun. Unfortunately for Kevin, his parents have not just disappeared - they have accidentally left him at home before going to Paris!

Trouble really starts when two pesky burglars, Harry Lime (Joe Pesci) and Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern), decide that their next burglary will be at the McCallister 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 and Automobiles,' wrote this film, and it is no wonder. It is just like Hughes' humor. It mixes emotion, belly laughs and a warm-hearted ending all into one little bundle called a movie. John Hughes' films, in my experience, are usually 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, and nothing is different here. Also, he places Kevin and co. in a large brick home in a large neighborhood in Chicago; a home that very much resembles those in 'Planes.' and '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 and Stern, his bad acting is long forgotten by the time we become absorbed into the film.

John Heard and Catherine O'Hara bring Kevin's parents to life. They seem almost complete opposites. Kevin's father, Peter (Heard), is very calm and laidback. His mother, Kate (O'Hara) is extremely nervous almost all the time, fretting throughout the film. She is aggravated very easily and, like all 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 and Stern. My favorite lot of the film. They perfectly blend humor, pain and aggravation to the film.

Pesci's character Harry is very strict, easily agitated and picks on Marv for a great many things. Marv, the stereotypical 'tall, 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, and 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 all, '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 and some great booby-traps all into one little bundle. This film has stood the test of time greatly.

4.5/5 stars -

"Home Alone" is one of the most popular movies from the early 90's. Its success was phenomenal and it also made Macaulay Culkin a superstar.

The plot is quite original and surreal: a child who is home alone and capable of making the bandits's lives miserable? Sure, it's an impossible story, but who cares? Far from being a perfect movie, it is however okay and fun to watch, entertaining and contains slapstick humor too although I don't like some of the language used.

Our story takes place in Chicago at Christmas time, which makes this a Christmas film. In fact, the movie has lots of Christmas decorations, lights, snow and many other details which create the feeling and magic so characteristic of Christmas. To accent the Christmas atmosphere even more, there are a cup of nice Christmas carols such as "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (performed by Brenda Lee), "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch", "White Christmas", "Carol of the Bells", "Oh Holly Night" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and some brilliant instrumental musics.

Kevin McCallister is the hero of the story. He's not just any kid, he's a very smart one. He also knows all about the intentions of the "wet bandits" Harry and Marv and prepares them lots of unexpected "surprises". Their lives won't be easy with Kevin defending his house. Sure, they are the villains and as such they get what they deserve, but they do suffer a lot too. We almost feel sorry for them.

The "wet bandits" were nicknamed like that by Marv because their "calling card" (according to him) was to let the water running in every houses they robbed. That said, both "wet bandits" are hilarious. Harry is more cranky, while Marv is the most stupid of the two (although both are stupid) and maybe that's why people tend to sympathize more with him. Marv's stupidity also makes him the funniest of the two. Marv is the typical tall and clumsy guy with no brain, a bit like Averell Dalton from the Lucky Luke comics.

The movie has lots of funny moments. The funniest for me is when Harry and Marv pretend to be Santa Claus and his elf and the way Harry speaks in that scene, followed by the even funnier part when Kevin fires at Harry's pants. Whenever Kevin fools the bandits in a try to make them believe the whole family is at home when Kevin is all alone is funny too. For some reason, I also find funny whenever Kevin screams maniacally (particularly when he says he's not afraid anymore and sees Old Marley and screams out loud.

The scenes which Kevin fools and scares the Little Nero's Pizza boy and Marv with the gangster film "Angels with Filthy Souls" are hilarious, but in the case of the Pizza boy it is unfair for him. There was no need to scare the hell out of him - he was just delivering pizza and wasn't after Kevin.

Old Marley is an interesting character. I always felt sorry for him because of the lies Buzz tells about him. And the man never did anything bad to anyone. Buzz is a jerk and Uncle Frank is even worse. Buzz is mean for Kevin and Uncle Frank openly dislikes Kevin. When Uncle Frank tells Kevin «Look what you did, you little jerk!», Kevin's parents should tell him something like «Frank, stay out of this and shut up!».

The church is magnificent. It's one of the biggest and most beautiful churches I've ever seen in a movie.

Macaulay Culkin is terrific as the clever kid Kevin McCallister. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are awesome as the "wet bandits" and Roberts Blossom is great as the character Old Marley. It's also delightful to see John Candy as Gus Polinski, the «Polka King of the Midwest».