Home Alone (1990)

Director: Chris Columbus (RIP 2009)
Writer: John Hughes
Composer: John Williams

..gee, between 2 of these 3 guys, I can't help but think to myself... no wonder I'm getting "Harry Potter" vibes from this movie

Cast:
Kevin McCallister- Macaulay Culkin
Kate McCallister- Catherine O'Hara
Peter McCallister- John Heard (RIP 2017)
Buzz- Devin Ratray
Jeff- Michael C. Maronna (aka the older Pete from "The Adventures of Pete & Pete)
Uncle Frank- Gerry Bamman
Harry- Joe Pesci
Marv- Daniel Stern
Gus Polinski- John Candy (RIP 1994)
Old Man Marley- Roberts Blossom (RIP 2011)

...

You almost can't have a proper Christmas season without one of the original Home Alone movies. If you ask me, the two movies are practically interchangeable. They have the same cast and premise. The only difference is location, really. "Home Alone 3" is ok, but nowhere near as good as the original ones. And it's one of those movies that have become a Christmas classic, so remaking it is a ridiculous idea. You know studios are running out of ideas when they're remaking 90's movies.

Anyway, moving on...

This is one of those movies I grew up with and still like revisiting from time to time. It's been a couple years since I saw the original and I had a lot of fun this time around. 

Everyone knows the basic premise: The McCallisters are going on a vacation to Paris. A major argument breaks out between the youngest brother Kevin and the oldest brother, Buzz. Kevin gets blamed for the incident breaking out in the first place and he's punished. Between this punishment (being banished to the attic) and a few other random incidents, the family oversleeps and is running late for their trip. In all of the hustle and bustle, they completely forget about Kevin and he's left Home Alone.
There are two burglars called the Wet Bandits making their rounds in the neighborhood. Kevin has to get by on his own while having to defend himself against the burglars. He also befriends the scary old man that lives next door and the results of this friendship have a major impact on the story as well as the characters themselves.

Anyone who knows me knows that John Hughes is one of my favorite writer/directors in the movie industry. I still miss him... can't believe he left us 10 years ago...  this is another of his great contributions alongside The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The movie is hilarious, but it also has a lot of heart and the writing is really good. It's also crazy to find out that he and Chris Columbus (who went on to direct Mrs. Doubtfire and the first two Harry Potter movies) were friends because I like Chris Columbus a lot as well. 

And John Williams doing the music. Wow... and just maybe that's why the first Harry Potter movie in particular has that special feel to it. Not just because it's the introduction to the franchise and there's a lot of magic involved (in the script and with the production), but the music and the feel I get with the visuals. In Home Alone, they're very simple, obviously, but there's a certain warmth. And of course with it being a Christmas movie, the warm and fuzzies come with the territory. 

Obviously this movie couldn't have been done as well without Macaulay Culkin. Sure, he makes Kevin out to be too smart for his own good sometimes, but it's done with the right amount of balance between innocence, cockiness and heart. The same can't be said for the actor in Home Alone 3 because he is way too smart for his own good and it's to the point where it's not believable. Sadly, with the way child acting has been going over the past couple of years, it's only going to get worse. 
It's also kinda sad that he's one of those child actors that got too famous too fast and they couldn't handle their success or go back to living a normal life. He's one of those people where rumors would fly around constantly that they'd died, but it was really a hoax. 

The two Home Alone movies have one key side-story in common. Kevin is initially afraid of a stranger because of either rumors or they just look strange. But after getting to know them, he sees they're not so bad and they have their own insecurities that he tries to absolve them of. 
In this movie, it's the scary old man that lives next door. There's a scene early on where Buzz is telling Kevin about a rumor that Marley killed his family and buried them in the backyard. Admittedly, the way the camera shoots this man and the creepy music that follows, it's hard not to be intimidated. So it's kinda crazy when he talks to Kevin when they meet at a church service and he winds up being completely normal. His back story isn't fleshed out too much, but he talks about having an argument with his son and they'd been estranged ever since. Kevin winds up talking him into giving things another shot. 
When I watched this scene again, I thought about how similiar it was in the second movie with the Central Park pigeon lady. Her story was that she'd been in love with someone and he broke her heart and she wound up separating herself from society because she was afraid to open up to people again. The similiar exchange that happens in both movies: Kevin suggests that they take action to change things, they say "what if it doesn't work out" (or something to the effort of repeating their initial apprehension), and he stands his ground, convincing them to do something about it. 
In the second movie, we don't see if anything does change with the pigeon lady. But in the first movie, we certainly do.

Before going further, I gotta add how poignant that church scene is where the children's choir is singing "O' Holy Night." It really grounds you and makes you feel like it's Christmas time. I also love when Kevin leaves the church, the clock rings 8 times (the Bandits said they'll break it at 9), and the music changes to John Williams' version of "Carol of the Bells" but with the extra drama and urgency. That's why this guy is one of the best in the industry.

Anyway, back to the resolution of Marley and his family.

There's an episode of Seinfeld where George wants to watch "Home Alone" in Jerry's apartment. Jerry gets back later in the episode and George is a mess. He's like "What, you're crying over Home Alone?" And George is like "The old man got to me."
Seriously, you watch that final scene of the movie when the reconciliaton happens and tell me you don't get choked up. With the snow falling and the music and how everything is shot... dang, that's good. 
I love the little thing in the 2nd movie with the Turtle Dove ornaments: "you keep one and you give the other to a very special person. So as long as you each have your turtle dove, you'll be friends forever"... AWWW, that's so sweet!!! I'm a sucker for sentimental stuff, especially at Christmas time. 

And of course this movie has the burglars. It's kinda funny seeing Joe Pesci in a family movie, someone known for more than occasionally spewing profanity. But the two guys are robbing all these houses on this block where all the families happen to be away on vacation. I can understand one or two, but everyone? That's kinda unbelievable. 
And all the shenanigans that happen as they try to rob the house and Kevin set up all these boobytraps for them :P IMDb actually had trivia where a medical expert runs through some of them and whether or not the resulting injuries are believable. People take things way too seriously sometimes. 
I think I read somewhere that they kept a swear jar on set because Pesci couldn't help himself. But going through the movie trivia, I read that he didn't talk to Macaulay Culkin when they weren't shooting because he wanted him to think he was mean. And also Chris Columbus told Pesci to say "fridge" when he got the urge to say the other "f word."

While all this is going on, Kevin's mom is trying to get home as soon as she can. I almost feel bad for the family because they can't even enjoy their vacation with all this going on. But she gets to a point where she's flown to all these different locations and winds up in Scranton... we moved up to the Poconos in 2006, so it's kinda funny to hear them mention Scranton because I know where that is now (even though I'd never been there). 
It's interesting to read that John Candy did this role for free and he improvised everything. He's a nice light spot in the movie as well. Kevin's mom needed that little bit of reassurance with all she'd gone through. 

Other than "Do you give up or are you thirsty for more?"- the one thing about this movie I always remembered as a kid. The movie within the movie. I was so disappointed to find out that "Angels with Filthy Souls" wasn't even a real movie. Because it looked like a fun movie. There's this gangster boss this guy owes money and at the end of the scene, the boss shoots him up.
"You have until the count of 10 to get your ugly, yella, no good keister off my property before I pop your guts full of lead.... 1, 2, 10!!"
So funny when these guys never properly cut to 10. But after seeing the movie once, Kevin used this scene multiple times to full comedic effect. Because the poor unwitting fools never saw it coming :P It's so great that that joke was brought back in the next movie- "Angels with even filthier souls"

I think that's everything I can add about this movie. There's a lot of good stuff to talk about, but I think that's roughly it.