Home Alone: A Funny Favorite

Home Alone came out when I was in eighth grade. Going to see it was a momentous occasion because it was the first time my mother let my fifth grade brother and I walk down to the movie theatre on the corner of our street and see a movie by ourselves. But I remember Home Alone for more reasons than that. Mainly, I remember it (and still watch it every year) because it is FUNNY!

Home Alone is about eight-year-old Kevin McAllister. He has a large family which is made even larger by the visit of many relatives--fourteen people altogether! They are all going to travel to Paris to visit some transferred relatives during the Christmas holidays.

Kevin starts acting up under the pressures of having so many people around, and gets sent to sleep in the attic. Due to a lot of mix-ups in the morning, Kevin gets left behind when the family leaves for the airport.

What follows next are two separate plots. First, Mom tries everything she can to get from Paris to Illinois to help poor helpless little Kevin. Second, Kevin proves that he is not poor and helpless by defending his house from a pair of burglars that are robbing every house on the block.

The best part of this movie is when the burglars actually attempt to break in to Kevin's house, only to find that he's put some deterrent at every entrance. This part gets really creative, as some of his defenses include Micro Machines (those little tiny toy cars) and broken Christmas ornaments. There's no way an eight-year-old could have thought out the plan as well as he did, but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of humor.

Another part that I like involves one of Kevin's neighbors. He's a creepy-looking old man who everyone says killed some people a while back. In reality, he's just misunderstood. He hasn't spoken with his family in years, but he agrees to try again after Kevin's encouragement. The scene between them that I like takes place in a church, where the neighbor is talking with Kevin about forgiveness, and how God will forgive Kevin for wanting his family to disappear. Kevin turns it around and says that God will forgive the neighbor, too. My mother used this scene in a religious education class that was preparing for their first reconciliation.

There are a few scenes that I don't think are appropriate for REALLY young kids. Things such as burning hands with hot irons, stepping on nails, and hitting people in the head with paint cans are not things I'd want a five-year-old to emulate. For those old enough to know better, though, they're hilarious. Kevin also gets away with a LOT of backtalking to his parents at the beginning of the movie, which I could have done without.

Other than those moments, though, this movie is pretty fun. I have to watch it at least once a year around Christmas, and I could even get away with showing it to my class of fifth-graders-with-extremely-protective-parents without any complaints. Most parents probably wouldn't even mind sitting through it with their kids once or twice. It's a great movie for getting me in a holiday mood. I recommend you try it out next Christmas if you haven't already!

This review is part of jenni1396's holiday movie write-off, held after the fact due to Jennifer's computer problems. Participants include AinsleyJo, AmyLEnsor, BedrockTime, bgoodday, bmcnichol, bpotter1, caleo,
cbgresh, ChrisJarmick, CjsMommy, dandj, dreamcatcher39, erin5oaks,
francesca57, frazzledspice, Grouch, gwsmith, HawgWyld, ImAmes, janesbit1,
jenninca, jenni1396, Josh_G, keithpruitt, kelly60, KingJFS, lucky43560,
Macresarf1, Magick1, martytdx, Mike_Bracken, monical2me, mrssmoopy,
onecoolcat, pacbaystat, phineaskc, Poseidon, Presleysmama, sawasdee,
seracorde11, shadow8, splitsurround, SPodgorski, teskue, and Viper1963. I hope you'll take the time to read some of their reviews as well, then get a couple of the movies on video and settle down for a night of Christmas cheer!