Home Alone 

Directed by Chris Columbus

Written by John Hughes

Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O’Hara

Released in theaters Nov. 16, 1990

Currently streaming on Disney+

Last Monday, after dinner, I cuddled up with two of my grandkids, Francis (6) and Willa (4), to watch a Christmas movie of their choosing.

I was surprised by what they picked: Home Alone. The original version.

Of course, I’d seen it several times before. But this was the first time I realized that Macaulay Culkin is not just the main character, he’s by far the central character. He’s in almost every scene. And I was reminded of how amazingly good he was. (He was 10 years old at the time.) His performance made what would have been a good movie into a great movie. I hope he got a share of the residuals. He certainly earned it!

If you’ve never seen Home Alone, you might be surprised to know that this beloved children’s movie is replete with violence. Not mild violence, but the sort that makes an adult wince. How to describe it? It’s fake. But real. It’s Laurel and Hardy plus the Three Stooges plus Wile E. Coyote. What little Kevin does to the adult thieves is illegal in about half a dozen ways. Like “Fauci on a Couchi” (see “Good to Know,” below), I would have thought it would scare Francis and Willa. It didn’t. They loved it!

Critical Reception 

* “[Culkin] is a vivid screen presence, almost incandescent with confidence.” (Peter Bradshaw, Guardian)

* “Home Alone seems to be nominating itself as a Christmas classic [and] the film does go some way toward getting the job done.” (Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune)

* “The whole thing is gloriously tinged with nostalgia.” (Patrick Smith, Daily Telegraph/UK)

You can watch the trailer here.