HOME ALONE (1990) Revisited: Comedy Movie Review

Christmas is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to dust off that immortal holiday classic, Home Alone, as part of our ongoing series John Hughes Revisited. Released at Christmas of 1990, Home Alone was a box office juggernaut that catapulted star Macaulay Culkin to the top of the A-list, making him perhaps the biggest child star of all time. It made Chris Columbus, who directed by Hughes’s script, an A-list director as well, with him later launching the Harry Potter universe on the big screen.

Boasting a score by John Williams, and top notch production design, the classy Christmas epic remains a favorite over thirty years later. Often imitated, but never equaled, people just can’t get enough of Culkin’s Kevin demolishing the “Wet Bandits”, bumbling Harry (Joe Pesci) and Mark (Daniel Stern) with his home-made traps. Produced for $18 million, it made $467 million worldwide, and that’s not even counting merchandise, home video, tv and cable reruns and more. It spawn one legit sequel and a bunch of loosely related ones, and just got rebooted this year with the poorly received Home Sweet Home Alone (more on that on tomorrow’s edition of Awfully Good).

John Hughes Revisited is written, edited and narrated by Matthew Hacunda. Check out some earlier episodes below, and let us know if you think Home Alone holds up in the comments!

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#HomeAlone #MacaulayCulkin #JohnHughesRevisited

[kissthesky]

Hughes was a once in a generation cultural empath / filmmaker. His affluent midwestern ethos allowed for a heart warming nostalgia few can deliver, over and over. We were lucky to have him.

[SoCloseToToast]

Wow, all these years I never even noticed the ticket thrown out in the beginning...such a good video everyone! some good nuggets!

[markula_]

The movie is a Christmas classic from top to bottom but they really nailed it with Macaulay Culkin. I don't think another child actor on the planet at any given time could have put in a better performance. He owned it.

[High_Key]

You could do this one every year during Christmas and I’d still watch it purely for the Christmas spirit and nostalgia this movie provides

[trinaq]

The first Home Alone is a Christmas classic, the second one being just as enjoyable. Everything onwards has just been made to cash in on the original, with all of the charm sucked out!

[Locadel]

Joe pesci trying not to swear is always so hilarious 😂

[santos]

I loved Spaced Invaders, Christmas Vacation, and (of course) Home Alone.

[Omar-wqdz]

You guys should check out the Siskel And Ebert review for Home Alone 3, if you haven't. They both didn't like the first 2 films, and Siskel didn't like the 3rd film either, but Ebert liked it and said it was better than the previous 2. You should have seen Siskel's reaction to that

[whiterabbit]

I remember my Dad bought a pirate copy on VHS in Cyprus for my brother and I. We played it until it went pop!

[silverblue]

Hollywood needs to leave Home Alone alone

[Theggman]

When I realized Merv's Daniel Stern is the narrator from "The Wonder Years"... Mind blown.

[Omar-wqdz]

As much as I enjoy Home Alone, I actually think Home Alone 2 is better

[tapanipaul]

Thank you for shouting out DERANGED and Roberts Blossom! That film is an unsung gem and his performance is the obvious highlight. I watched it upon recommendation from an ex, and it tripped me out to discover that he was in Home Alone… Everyone should watch it, it’s free on YT, it’s great…

[DougUnfunny]

Funny Catherine O'Hara is a Fashion Designer in this and a Art Sculptor in beetlejuice. Fine Arts Major for sure.

[StevenSmith-mkfg]

Definitely a modern classic. It's rare that you get a movie which is funny to both children and adults and this is testament to how good it is. I loved it back then, as a ten year-old kid and still find it hilarious now, as a 42 year-old man. The duo between Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern is why this movie has stood the test of time. The second movie, while not bad by any stretch of the imagination wasn't quite the same. I think allot of that had to do with the fact that it had already been done.

[ThatSoddingGamer]

That excerpt where Ebert went on about 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' for setting up the traps. Did...did he not know how much cans of paint and micromachines cost? Almost everything Kevin put together could be sourced in a home at the time period, with some stuff of course not being necessarily super common, it's also not unreasonable that a home might have say, dozens of micromachines, or a long bit of rope.

He just seemed to be making up excuses to hate the movie.

Also, I had the Talkboy. Not sure, but I think I might have it laying around somewhere.

[JoJoJoker]

Home Alone is the perfect a example of how movies used to take time for good set up. It’s difficult to imagine a person without their own family & kids being able to write a movie like Home Alone. This may partially explain why writing continues to get worse, the younger generations don’t have a good understanding of humanity even if they have good people skills.

[crazyjoedavola]

It's not Christmas without this movie....

[Omar-wqdz]

I know it's just a movie, but the McCallisters are probably the worst family ever

[denko]

This was a really good throwback to one of the best films ever made. I really hope you can do one for Home Alone 2 as well since I think it often doesn't get the same recognition it deserves. I'm one of the few ones where I consider the sequel the best one.