The emperor of 1980s Brat Pack flicks, John Hughes, wrote the sharp dialogue, but I think we have director Chris Columbus (undisputedly a holiday movie hero through his Gremlins writing work) for the darker aspects that accentuate this good old-fashioned yuletide family film. It’s got the heart and charm of a PG film perfect for everyone as they gather round the box in the Advent build-up, but the blackly comic bits give it an extra edge as anarchy reigns in the all-American upper class suburbs of snow-coated Chicago. Excellent. What child doesn’t dream of turning their house into a booby-trapped assault course? Our Kevin does so in style and as far as festive fun goes, it doesn’t get much better than the sight of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern’s lovable mugs getting mashed beneath irons, flamed by blowtorches and belted by swinging paint cans on the staircase. Playing helpless hoodlums Harry and Marv respectively, Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci are as a much a part of the film’s brilliance as Culkin. As an adult who’s experienced Goodfellas and Casino, to see the great Pesci razza-frazza-razzing his way through a family-friendly film is fantastic. As a child, to see two grown men get outwitted and absolutely whooped by a pasty-faced school kid is both invigorating and empowering. Alongside the requisite cheesiness, heartwarming values and cheery seasonal sparkle, it’s the impish mischief manifest in the courageous Kevin that knocks all other Christmas flicks aside and launches Home Alone to the top of the tree as the yuletime star. The movie and its big-city sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (things started to get a bit skewy at Home Alone 3 without the Culkin/Pesci/Stern tripartite), occupy a special place deep down inside my soul, partly because of ritual repeat annual viewings but mainly because they are quite simply the perfect festive blend of entertainment, action and aww-shucksiness. “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.“: No December is complete without Home Alone… 22 December 2008
