HOME ALONE
US, 1990, 103 minutes, Colour.
Macauley Culkin, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Candy.
Directed by Chris Columbus.
Home Alone was an extraordinary box-office hit of Christmas 1990. It is a story for Christmas - but a story for children and for parents.
It was written and produced by John Hughes, best known in the mid-'80s for his films about adolescence, but also for his stories about families (Uncle Buck). In this film he combines his humour about children with his humour about vacations and the hazards of travel (he was the author of the National Lampoon Vacation screenplays as well as his Planes, Trains and Automobiles). Home Alone is a combination of Uncle Buck and Planes and Trains with some daffy burglars thrown in for good measure.
Macauley Culkin (the young nephew of Uncle Buck) plays Kevin, the eight-year-old who is inadvertently left behind when the family goes to Paris on holidays. He manages alone - especially with two odd robbers, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, and vanquishes them. While the film pokes fun at thrillers, it also highlights Kevin and his using his wits and strength.
The film is amusing - and the sequences with the robbers are enjoyable. The cast includes John Hurt and Katherine O'Hara as Kevin's parents, Roberts Blossom as a seemingly sinister neighbour, and a guest spot from John Candy.
The film was directed by writer-director Chris Columbus (Young Sherlock Holmes, Heartbreak Hotel, Mrs Doubtfire, Stepmom). But this film is reminiscent of his very enjoyable adventures in babysitting (A Night on the Town).
1.Popular holiday film? Christmas? A film for the family? For American audiences? World-wide?
2.Chicago, the affluent white neighbourhood? Locations, special effects and stunts?
3.The musical score, the range of Christmas songs, the message and the feeling?
4.The title, sinister, the little boy alone, fear, having to cope? His relationship with family?
5.The opening with the family, the crowd, the carry-on, the shouting, the children and the cousins, aunt and uncle? Arguments, everybody down on Kevin? The policeman at the front door? The pizza boy, the mess at the meal, Kevin being blamed, his mother taking him upstairs, Kevin forgotten?
6.The night, the storm, the clocks stopping, the plans for getting to the airport, the hurry, the counting of heads and the neighbourhood boy there? The running at the airport, the flight, the relaxation, the horror of the discovery that Kevin was missing? Crisis, the phone calls, the police looking at the home? The Paris holiday spoilt? Mother and her staying at the airport, begging the American couple and trying to pay them off for the ticket? Landing in Scranton, her planes and trains exasperation, the meeting with Gus, his explanation of his background, offering her a lift?
7.Kevin and his age, place in the family, being picked on? His being hurt, put in the attic? Waking up, searching the house, the memory that he had wished his family would disappear? His day at home, eating, making a mess, watching the television? The junk gangster movie? Going into Buzz's room and creating havoc, the money? Afraid in the basement? Going out, seeing the robbers - and remembering the gold tooth? Playing the TV gangster film to frighten away the robbers, to frighten away the pizza boy? Going shopping, the toothbrush, his being chased as a shoplifter? His going to the market, buying everything competently? The questioning girl at the checkout, everything dropping out of the bags?
8.Overhearing the robbers' plan, his fears, going past the church, the crib, going in? The background of Marley and everybody thinking he was a murderer hiding in the neighbourhood? Frightened of him in the shop and running away, frightened of him in the church? Marley sitting next to him, their talking, each telling their story? Marley's good advice? His advice to Marley about reconciliation with his family? 9 o'clock, his preparations for the robbers - oil on the stairs, the hot doorknob, the fire? The robbers' arrival, the attack on the house, their confidence? But inept? Their slipping, banging their heads, on fire? Their feet, the paint tins, tripping? Trying to follow Kevin to the tree house and his cutting the rope? Kevin shrewdly phoning the police? Going into the neighbour's house, the water? Kevin being caught, hung on the door, saved by Marley?
9.The comic robbers, inept, masquerading as police, their truck, stalking the neighbourhood, the robbery in the Murphys', leaving the water running, making messes? Scared by the television movie? Seeing Kevin? The return, the knockabout comedy sequences, being caught?
10.Marley, sweeping the snow, the stories about him, Kevin's fear in the shop, the church, as a lonely old man, his clash with his son, going to hear his granddaughter sing, saving Kevin at the end, the glimpse of reconciliation with the family - Christmas sentiment?
11.Kevin's parents, the messy household, mother and her putting Kevin in the attic, the hurried departure, rushing at the airport, planes and trains? Frantic in Paris, her return, meeting Gus? Talking with him about being a good parent? The family all arriving at the end? The sketch of the brothers and sisters - especially Buzz and his pushing Kevin around - and the final line?
12.Portrait of a little boy, eight, his fears, handling the situation, the change and its effect on him?
