Home Alone (1990)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writer (WGA):

John Hughes (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Family

Tagline:

A Family Comedy Without The Family.

Plot:

An eight year-old, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas, has to defend his home against idiotic burglars.

Plot Keywords:

House | Christmas | Vacation | Holiday | Booby Trap

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Macaulay Culkin	...	Kevin McCallister
Joe Pesci	...	Harry
Daniel Stern	...	Marv
John Heard	...	Peter McCallister
Roberts Blossom	...	Marley
Catherine O'Hara	...	Kate McCallister
Angela Goethals	...	Linnie
Devin Ratray	...	Buzz
Gerry Bamman	...	Uncle Frank
Hillary Wolf	...	Megan
John Candy	...	Gus Polinski
Larry Hankin	...	Officer Balzak
Michael C. Maronna	...	Jeff (as Michael C. Maronna)
Kristin Minter	...	Heather
Daiana Campeanu	...	Sondra

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/6 | New Zealand:PG | Netherlands:AL (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Norway:10 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

656 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, Illinois, USA

Company:

Hughes Entertainment

Trivia:

From 1993 to 1997, NBC aired 'Home Alone' during the 8/7c time slot on Thanksgiving evening as part of their holiday promotion.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kevin first uses the BB gun to shoot the figurines down the laundry chute, he pumps the rifle forward and then back at 23:21 on the DVD. Later in the film when he prepares to shoot the two robbers through the dog door, he pumps the rifle back and then forward at 76:12.

Quotes:

Kevin McCallister: Buzz, I'm going through all your private stuff. You'd better come out and pound me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Magnificent Movies (#3.14)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

That Face Helped Make This A Big Hit

This an absurd storyline. Hollywood loves to show movies in which kids are smarter than adults, for some reason. Also, we are expected to believe a big family can go all the way to the airport and then fly to France before finding out one of their kids was left at home??! I don't think so. I know a lot of big families and this would never-in-a-million years happen.

However, it's just a movie, and it isn't real and you can't take any of it seriously. Thus, the idea is to go along with the wild premise and enjoy the antics that follow....and there are plenty of those!

A share of the credit for the big success of this film should go to God, who made Maccaulay Culkin's face. Without it, I doubt this would have been anywhere near the hit is was, but Culkin's "cuteness" helps makes you root for him and his facial expressions provide a lot of laughs. He turned out to be a fine child actor.

The two guys (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) that play incompetent crooks are funny and some of the humor is clever, although slapstick "rules" in this film.

There are some really nice messages in here, such as "families suck," says the kid. Oh, well, some think this film did, too. I am not a big fan of it, but I did enjoy it along with most other people. I thought the sequel was better, though.