A comedy classic (Home Alone (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Home Alone (DVD)
Date:	17/09/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great chemistry

Disadvantages: None

note: also appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room

Home Alone is a classic comedy from one of the masters of the genre, the late John Hughes, who passed away just last month. It stars Macauly Culkin in the role that made him famous, as a kid who attempts to defend his house from a fleet or burglars.

The film opens as Peter and Kate McCallister (John Heard and Catherine O'Hara) are getting ready for their holiday, planning to travel to France with their huge extended family. Their son Kevin (Culkin) is often bullied by the other kids, particularly his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray). However, on the day they leave to go to the airport, they're in a big hurry, and accidentally leave without Kevin, leaving him all on his own. Although they soon realise their mistake, it means that Kevin is on his own for a little while.

At first, Kevin loves it - he gets to pig out and just be a general slob, but of course, there's a spanner thrown in the works as two local thieves, calling themselves the Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), notice that the house is presumably empty and attempt to rob it. This causes Kevin to defend the house with a host of insanely convoluted schemes and traps, resulting in Harry and Marv getting more and more beaten up and humiliated as the film progresses.

This is something of a children's classic but also quite amusing even if you're older - Pesci really plays against type here which is admirable, and Culkin is very charismatic as the young upstart fending off the baddies.

A truly ridiculous, but still great concept creates a barrel of laughs througout. Culkin, Pesci and Stern all turn in superb performances and there's a real chemistry between them all here. Great stuff.

Summary: A rousing yarn