The Home Alone movies were made to entertain. But in the first two,
with the witticisms of John Hughes, we get some very powerful Christmas messages.
The first of the series is the best. *****Home Alone was produced in
1990 with Macaulay Culkin in the leading role of Kevin McCallister.
Kevin is left home from a family trip to France, after he wished his
family gone the night before. He then spends the first day doing
everything he is not suppose to, waiting for someone to discipline him.
This includes sleigh riding down the stairs, watching a violent movie,
and jumping on his parent's bed. He then takes over as the man of the
house, and when a couple burglars threaten the home, he defends his home
from intruders. His efforts, and plans for home defense, and the
bungling burglars are what make this show so fun to watch. Joe Pesci
and Daniel Stern are very good in their roles and take the brunt of
Kevin's defenses. This includes a bee-bee gun, slippery stairs, nail
and ornaments left out for bare feet, flame thrower for the head, paint
cans flying through the air. However the movie becomes classic when it
adds the neighbor, who saves Kevin in the end. He is supposedly a
murderer as rumored around town and related by Kevin's older brother.
The neighbor is also estranged from his son. Kevin, after overcoming
his fears, befriends the old man. Kevin points out that he should at
least reach out to his son, that way he won't have to be afraid of what
his son might say, he will know one way or the other. This results in a
healing of family relationships and we see the man with his son and
granddaughter at the end of the movie. Kevin's parents are played by David Heard and Catherine O'Hara. The concern of mother to reach her son is part of the thrill of this movie. This also leads to a cameo by John Candy, the Polka player.
No comments:
Post a Comment