SYNOPSIS:
8-year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), the runt of his family, always getting picked on and blamed for causing problems. Frustrated, he wishes that his whole family would disappear. The next morning, his family boards a flight to Paris, totally forgetting to bring Kevin along. Kevin wakes up to an empty house and celebrates his Christmas miracle... until a duo of burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) targets his house! It's up to Kevin alone to defend his home!
REVIEW:
This was a favorite film of mine throughout my childhood! I was a couple years younger than Kevin when the film released, so I related to his plight. Watching it as an adult is kind of trippy, though. For instance, Kevin's home is massive! No one could afford a rich house like his today, unless they were millionaires. That really shows the change in the economy from 1990 to today. Even then, I'm sure it was a pricey home even for folks in the '90s.
Another interesting thing I never noticed before is that Kevin is completely dependent on his family at first. He can't even pack a suitcase without help. But after being left alone, he realizes he needs to step up and take control of his life. He overcomes his fear of the dark basement and its scary furnace. He learns how to go shopping, and is even quick-witted when the cashier starts asking him probing questions about his parents. He even faces the scary neighbor; the one rumored to have murdered his entire family.
And of course, when two bandits attempt to break into his house, he initially hides in fear before deciding he needs to take a stand and defend his territory. He sets up elaborate traps to injure and main and overall embarrass the two grown men encroaching upon his property. Despite being a child, he manages to out-smart two otherwise intelligent burglars who had already cased and robbed the rest of the block.
One random thing I like about this film is how good it is at establishing shots. You get great music and visual build-up to some of the scenes. Like when Kevin is running down the street from the tailing burglars, you get a momentary pan over a manger outside a church before discovering that Kevin is hiding in the manger. Or the night before the family leaves, you get some haunting music while the wind howls outside. You see scraping branches on the house, a spooky zoom up to a Santa face in the center of the wreath on their front door, then a branch snapping as it falls on the telephone wires, knocking out power to the house. The furnace also comes alive, with a low shot of it while it glows and subtly growls Kevin's name.
Random trivia: The kid who "wets the bed," Fuller (Kieran Culkin) is played by Macaulay Culkin's real-life brother. You may know him best as the gay roommate Wallace in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a classic Christmas story! I love the idea of a child being forced to overcome their dependence and learn how to take charge and get things done. It's very motivating. I also love all the Christmas themes, with beautiful decorations, church pageants, and Kevin's Christmas wish for solitude that he eventually wishes to rescind. About the only bad lesson here is about confronting bad guys instead of calling the cops. But then again, Kevin recognized one of the burglars as the cop who visited his home at the beginning of the film, so he has a legitimate reason for not trusting the police initially. There was excellent slapstick humor as the bandits attempt to break into Kevin's house, which was my favorite part of this film as a child. I'd recommend this film for all ages!
No comments:
Post a Comment