The Christmas season is upon us once again, and with it comes the usual selection of Christmas movies both new and old. Some will turn to a steady diet of Hallmark movies, while others will go with more unusual choices like “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” One of the most talked about Christmas movies, however, is “Home Alone” from 1990.
Premiering in November of that year, the film was amazingly successful and remained the highest-grossing comedy for 21 years until “The Hangover Part II” dethroned it in 2011. Macaulay Culkin, who played main character Kevin, became famous overnight. On December 1, he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 33 years after the movie, being honored by his on-screen mother Catherine O’Hara. A quintessential holiday season movie for many families, including mine, the movie has prompted several mostly joking examinations over the years, like calculating the real injuries Harry and Marv would’ve suffered from Kevin’s traps.
But the less gruesome debate that remains is how this movie’s plot would’ve been affected by the technology we enjoy today. Before discussing that, here’s a quick summary of the plot for those who somehow haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it in a while.
After an argument with his family and getting sent to sleep in the attic, Kevin discovers he was left at home by himself while the rest of his family flies to Paris. He enjoys his newfound freedom at first, but soon finds he misses them; this is also complicated by him catching wind from some burglars that they plan to rob the house on Christmas Eve.
Over the course of the week he prepares himself by setting up traps to defend the house, culminating in a very memorable, slapstick-filled climax where the robbers fall for every single trap. The subplot concerns his mother Kate’s attempts to return home, including a short-but-memorable layover in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre airport. In the end, the house is unharmed and the family is reunited, a warm and fuzzy ending to a great Christmas movie.
Written by John Hughes, the man behind several important movies from the 80s like “The Breakfast Club” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” this helps in the movie’s popularity, with well written moments of both hilarity and heartwarming sentiment throughout. Although overplayed, that by no means signals this is a bad movie, because it’s excellent. Kevin is precocious without being annoying, Kate’s motherly instincts are believable and entertaining, and of course Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv are absolutely hysterical. But as with anything popular, audiences love to pick it apart, whether jokingly or not.
The idea of “Home Alone but with modern technology” is so well known that several years back a Google Assistant commercial was made with Culkin that spoofs the idea. It seems to be a recurring theme among humorists and critics alike to imagine a world where things were easily resolved because the mother had a cell phone and the house had an alarm system, especially given how expensive it looks. But some movies just don’t need to be modernized, or even thought about in modern terms. “Home Alone” is perfect because it’s just slightly dated, reminding those who grew up without cell phones of a time without them, allowing everyone else to leave social media for an hour or two and just enjoy this well-worn, but no less great, narrative of a kid in a house by himself on Christmas.
I’m not the only one who thinks this movie endures despite these quirks. Articles, including one from “Billboard,” about how “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” finally reached the Hot 100’s number one song 65 years after its release, repeatedly mention this movie as a reason for its ultimate success.
So while we enjoy the holidays, be sure to catch this movie at least once. With its warm but funny atmosphere, great acting and iconic climax, you’ll be glad you did.
Contact the Writer: [email protected]
