While Joe Pesci (Harry) and Daniel Stern (Marv) make very convincing burglars, there are enough funny moments that balance out their menacing behavior. Last year, at ages 8 and 10, my husband and I decided our daughters were old enough, and I think we made the right decision. Home Alone was definitely one of those classic films that I loved as a pre-teen, and looked forward to watching together with my own children one day, when the time was right. Let me start with a disclaimer: my family and I love these movies. Which begs the question, is Home Alone too scary for kids? As with a lot of entertainment, determining if your child is ready to experience it really comes down to their age, emotional maturity, and how well they can determine what is real and what is not. Themes of family, love, and forgiveness abound, but there's also a fair amount of scary situations when a pair of crooks (however inept they might be) start breaking into houses in the neighborhood. Directed by John Hughes, the original hit 1990 film revolves around a young boy mistakenly left at home when his family flies to Paris for Christmas - and a mother's desperate journey to get back to him. But Home Alone's multi-genre approach makes it a classic even 25 years later."You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas." There are many memorable one-liners from the Home Alone movies, which rank high on my list of favorite Christmas comedies. Many other children's movies are a bore for parents and several Christmas films lose their flicker halfway through. Anyone can watch and enjoy Home Alone, regardless of age or background. The movie appropriately fits into each of the genres while never being beholden to any of their shortcomings. Take a heap of Christmas movie, add a dash of kid-appropriate comedy, a sprinkle of family flick, and a pinch of caper action, and you've got Home Alone. Pesci and Stern also have incredible chemistry, with the duo stealing the show any time Kevin wasn't on screen. That's why Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were the perfect villains to Kevin McAllister as Harry and Marv, a crafty pair of thieving burglars who were just hapless enough so the movie could remain fun, even when they were breaking in to the McAllister home. If they're too threatening or powerful, then the movie is at risk of losing its fun, comedic charm. If they're too goofy or unrealistic, the audience won't be able to take them seriously. When the protagonist of your movie is an 8-year-old, it's necessary that the antagonists be believable, but not overly-threatening to the young character. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were goofy but believable villains Just hearing Williams' opening melody from the film brings images of Kevin's hijinks to one's mind. But John Williams rose to the occasion in Home Alone, with his fanciful and curious score capturing the fun, holiday nature of the film. Kevin's realistic plight with his family made him endearing to kids, and his successful triumph of Harry and Marv enshrined him as a hero among youth.įor someone who composed the music for epic adventures like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, conducting the score to a family/holiday movie may seem like a strange change of pace. But when Kevin finally is left home alone, he doesn't cower in fear, he doesn't cry, he embraces the situation and tackles it head on. No matter how hard Kevin tries, he still seems to get ignored and ends up looking even more temperamental and whiny in the process. You could identify with his plight as the perennially overlooked child, with his parents' favor always going to his less-deserving siblings. When Home Alone came out in 1990, Kevin McAllister, played by Macaulay Culkin, quickly became every child's hero. Kevin McAllister was cool but also relatable Here's why we love Home Alone 25 years later. Many other holiday and children's movies have come and passed in the decades that followed, but none have had the same cultural impact of Home Alone, whose heartwarming characters and touching themes remain a gift to audiences. Twenty-five years ago Monday, movie audiences across the world were introduced to Home Alone, a movie showcasing the cunning 8-year-old Kevin McAllister as he defends his house from burglars after accidentally being left at home by his family.
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